The new Minute Repeater is 39 mm in diameter. Its case is made of rose gold. It measures 12.1 mm thick. It has a two-level, concave bezel which slopes down towards an elegant, grained dial with silver coloring. The hour indexes are simple, applied rose-gold markers; the only numerals to be found on the dial are the small Arabics on the minutes track, all in a standard JLC font. The dagger-like dauphine hands have two facets: one is sandblasted and the other is polished, to pick up the light at all angles. A small seconds counter can be found at 6 o’clock.
But the key feature of the Minute Repeater is, of course, the eponymous complication. The repeater uses crystal gongs for greater clarity of tone. The gongs have a “square section” made of a proprietary alloy. They are welded to the sapphire crystal, so that the whole watch can resonate together. The gongs are struck by trebuchet hammers.
To activate the minute repeater function, Jaeger-LeCoultre provides a pusher on the left side of the case. This is a notable difference from the traditional slide one expects on a repeater. The button also has a security system so that the user cannot re-trigger the repeater when it is already striking, which would run the risk of damaging the mechanism.
The Master Grande Tradition Minute Repeater is powered by Calibre 942, a 4-Hz movement with a 40-hour power reserve. It runs in 58 jewels; in total, it has 437 parts.
The watch comes on a brown alligator strap with a rose-gold pin buckle. It is water resistant to 50 meters. Price: $169,000.
j.L. C – most perfect watch to my humble ppion.
Minute-repeaters are the toughest complication to create, yet over the years JLC has created a number of outstanding minute-repeater watches, take a bow JLC!
A very nice watch.
To give all those who cannot afford its price, it would be good to know at what decibels the crystal gongs sound. I listened to a minute repeater the other day and could hardly hear the sound (off the wrist!)
It just rounds of the information of the watch.