For Art’s Sake: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Hybris Artistica Collection

Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3

The Hybris Artistica version of the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3 is intended to be edgy and avant-garde. To that end, the designers chose an unorthodox material for the watch’s case: tantalum, an anthracite-colored metal highly resistant to scratches and corrosion. Tantalum is dense and therefore hard to work with, so the designers had to change the shape of the case slightly.

With its bluish luster, the tantalum creates a striking impression. It is accentuated by a black dial for the hours and minutes, a light gray one for the chronograph seconds and a digital minutes counter consisting of white numerals on a dark background. The movement is treated with ruthenium and has a blued, 14k-gold balance wheel. Made up of more than a hundred parts, the tourbillon, which rotates on two axes, weighs less than one gram.

SPECS:
Functions: Hours, minutes, instantaneous digital-display chronograph activated by a single push button at 2 o’clock, day/night indicator, 24-hour display
Movement: Manual-wind Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 176, flying tourbillon with spherical balance spring, 592 components, two barrels, thickness = 11.15 mm, 82 jewels, 21,600 vph, power reserve = 48 hours
Case: Tantalum, diameter = 43.5 mm, water resistant to 50 m
Unique piece

Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Céleste

The Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Céleste has a rotating flying tourbillon that shows sidereal time (a sidereal day is four minutes shorter than a solar day).

The dial is made of aventurine, chosen because its deep blue color resembles that of the night sky. The area of the dial representing the months has a guilloché pattern and is covered in translucent lacquer, an effect meant to evoke the depth of the cosmos.

The hour ring is decorated with guilloché and filled with lacquer. A bezel would only have impeded visibility, so the domed crystal is placed directly on the case band, thus providing a perfect view of the orbital tourbillon.

SPECS:
Functions: Hours, minutes, sky chart, celestial time, months and 24-hour indicator, zodiac signs
Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 946, manual wind, orbital flying tourbillon, 334 components, thickness = 10.57 mm, 28,800 vph, power reserve = 48 hours, 35 jewels
Case: White gold, diameter = 42 mm, water resistant to 50 m
Limited edition of three pieces

Master Gyrotourbillon I

The most striking piece of the Hybris Artistica collection, the Master Gyrotourbillon I, is meant to evoke stained-glass windows. The watch has a dial made from a skeletonized aventurine plate and features carved rosettes with hour markers decorated with blue lacquer.

It took dogged patience and skill to craft this dial from an extremely hard and brittle mineral that shatters at the slightest impact. The thick, domed sapphire crystal is attached directly to the case; there is no bezel to impede the view of the dial.

The upper part of the dial tells the time; below it is a semicircular date display with two retrograde hands. On the back of the watch, a sapphire crystal provides a view of the retrograde leap-year indication. The tourbillon is clearly visible thanks to a sapphire crystal tab extending into the case at 6 o’clock.

SPECS:
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, power-reserve indicator, running solar time (equation of time), retrograde perpetual date, retrograde indication of months, retrograde leap year on the back of the watch
Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 177, manual wind, spherical tourbillon, 659 components, two barrels, thickness = 11.32 mm, power reserve = eight days, 21,600 vph, 117 jewels
Case: White gold, diameter = 43 mm, water resistant to 50 m
Limited edition of three pieces

Duomètre à Grande Sonnerie

First unveiled in 2009, the Duomètre à Grande Sonnerie strikes the hours en passant with a complete Westminster carillon, which, Jaeger-LeCoultre claims, chimes the longest rendition of the Big Ben melody ever played by a striking watch. If this were not enough, the watchmakers added two more complications: a flying tourbillon and a perpetual calendar with retrograde hands.

For the watch’s Hybris Artistica version, the watchmakers chose transparent rock crystal for the entire dial (the original model hid much of the mechanism behind an opaque dial).

SPECS:
Functions: Hours; minutes on a subdial at 3 o’clock; Westminster chime; grande and petite sonneries; minute repeater; perpetual calendar; retrograde days, months and date; leap-year display
Movement: Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 182, more than 1,400 components, manual wind, tourbillon, 28,800 vph, two barrels, power reserve for the time and calendar = 50 hours, power reserve for watch in grande sonnerie mode = 12 hours
Case: White gold, diameter = 44 mm, water resistant to 50 m
Unique piece