What makes the new 2015 models of this watch interesting are those new dials, which are made of a rather unusual material: meteorite, a rare and extremely old material. Meteorite has a unique appeal due to its origins – million-years-old, non-terrestrial stones sourced from falling stars – and due to its very specific crystalline structure. The one used for the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar Meteorite comes from an asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter and was collected somewhere in Sweden. Once prepared, this stone has to be cut in thin plates to create dials – do keep in mind that meteorite is both extremely hard and fragile to prepare – and then polished to reveal its structure, which is unique to each dial. Depending on the edition, it presents a light gray or anthracite color. On top of these dials are applied silvery or gilded indexes, which match the hands.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar Meteorite comes in an elegant, 39-mm case made of stainless steel or 18k rose gold, fully mirror-polished and reasonably thin – 10.6 mm. It has two sapphire crystals, including one on the back to admire the movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Calibre 866. It is a self-winding engine, with 43 hours of power reserve, made in-house. It has a clean and pleasant finish, with Geneva stripes, blued screws, beveled angles and a gold insert on the rotor.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar Meteorite is a nice addition to the Master catalog, using a rare material found on only a few other watches, including versions of the Rolex Daytona and Omega Speedmaster. Prices will be officially released during SIHH 2015, but the standard versions, with silvery dial in stainless steel or 18k rose gold are priced at, respectively, 8,800 euros and 19,700 euros. With the addition of a meteorite dial, we would expect that prices would come in around 10,500 euros in steel and 21,500 euros in 18k gold.