Jaeger-LeCoultre brought the vintage cool to our London Discovery Studio last week
Russell SheldrakeLast week, we hosted one of our most spectacular events to date, and it was all thanks to Jaeger-LeCoultre. We’ve been lucky enough to hold some pretty awesome events on both sides of the planet, as our London and Melbourne Discovery Studios have become venues for some of the must-attend evenings in the watch calendar. So when I make such a bold opening statement as I have here, I know I am going up against some steep competition. But when the Watchmakers’ Watchmaker rolls into town with some of its historical collection, there is more than a reason to take pause.
Last Thursday, we were lucky enough to have the Jaeger-LeCoultre travelling collection, The Adventure Spirit, visit our London Studio for the evening. This is a collection of 12 vintage sports and tool watches that the brand has produced over the last 80 years – starting with legendary Dirty Dozen pilot’s watches and going all the way up to the ultra-complex concept pieces that pushed the limits of 2000s watchmaking.
We had all 12 of these pieces on display in the Studio for our guests to enjoy and learn about, with a number of the brand’s team in attendance to help talk our guests through the complex and long story of these timepieces. However, we also had most of the brand’s current catalogue on display, with a real emphasis on the Polaris collection as the natural successors to the sports watches in The Adventure Spirit collection.
The pinnacle of the evening, as with all of our events, was a talk with the immensely knowledgeable Matthieu Sauret, the Product and Heritage Director at Jaeger-LeCoultre. As the man who helped bring this collection together, it was his insight into the finer details of these watches and what they say about the more unspoken side of this storied brand’s history that really brings the pieces to life. His understanding of the importance of each of these 12 watches amplifies just how incredible they are, and so once the amassed crowd had heard from him, you could tell there was a renewed energy in the room to get to grips with these historical watches.
It was a real honour to have Jaeger-LeCoultre come to us for this event. They have been hosting The Adventure Spirit collection in their London boutique for a couple of weeks at this point, but it was at our event that it felt like the story of these watches was best told. The team from the brand who were on hand for the evening were kept busy in between sips of champagne and bites of canapés, they were constantly answering questions and queries from our engaged guests.
It was a real pleasure to host this event, and getting to share the stage with Matthieu was a special moment for me personally, as we got to go back and forth on such an incredibly rich topic. This will certainly be an event that goes down in the T+T history books, with some of the most exceptional and unexpected examples of watchmaking we’ve ever had on display.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Russell and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: positive affirmations
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A true community service.
Wrist shot of the week: plat catalogue
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This early 1990s Audemars Piguet Ultra-Thin ref. 14682 in platinum, photographed by our friend Tim Vaux, is a great example of the gems in AP’s back catalogue. Jamie’s kicking himself that he missed out on buying this one.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Furlan Marri Cornes de Vache Blue Sector
Years after its initial unveiling (and almost two years after the release of our Time+Tide “Outback Elegy” version of the watch), Furlan Marri has finally added a blue dial to its Cornes de Vache collection. With a subtly grained texture, its azure blue face is stunning, paired with a surprisingly complex case that is characterised by curvaceous lugs that are finished before assembly. It’s powered by the La Joux-Perret G100 calibre, which offers an impressive 68-hour power reserve.
The Furlan Marri Cornes de Vache Blue Sector is available now from the Time+Tide Shop. Price: A$2,600
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
Omega debuts 4 new, slimmer “Side of the Moon” Speedmaster models in black and grey
Houston, we have four new Omega Speedmaster watches to take a closer look at! The three Dark Side of the Moon models may initially look familiar, with (for lack of a better phrase) dark-white, dark-dark, and dark-red variants, but the new Grey Side of the Moon will certainly stand out. However, all four include notable evolutions and refinements: Zach runs through them all here.
80 hours and CHF 500 will determine the next winner of Cartier’s Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow
Last month, Cartier announced that it would be accepting entries for the 28th edition of its premier watchmaking competition for young, up-and-coming artisans: the Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow. But unlike many other well-known competitions for independents and names yet unknown (thinking of the likes of LVMH’s Independent Creatives Prize or F.P. Journe’s Young Talent Competition), Cartier is taking a very different approach. Read Borna’s take on it here.
The Laurent Ferrier effect: why are watch experts so smitten with the Sport Auto?
There’s a moment in every watch collector’s journey when it is just love at first sight. Whether or not it stands up to the watch enthusiast or expert’s sense of logic or not, it ultimately becomes secondary to an instant emotional connection that supersedes measured evaluation. For an increasing number of watch enthusiasts, that moment arrives courtesy of Laurent Ferrier. At an event during Geneva Watch Days, we spotted both Danish watch enthusiast Kristian Haagen and Monochrome Watches’ Frank Geelen sporting the same timepiece: the Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto. Is it a coincidence? Or, is it evidence of what we’re calling “the Laurent Ferrier effect”: a kind of horological love affair that spreads through the community like a beautifully crafted contagion? We knew we had to get them on camera and explain. Watch on YouTube above, or read more here.