The proper way

 

Horology is the study of mechanical watches. And today, you will learn how to answer the most important horological question: what makes a watch horologically important in a traditional, true-watchmaking sense?  When you figure this out, you will be able to 'judge' every mechanical watch the same way a traditional master watchmaker like Breguet would. You would simply see the watch through Breguet's eyes. The concept is simple, yet fascinating: the more complex the watch is, the more valuable it should be. A 'time only' watch is the starting point. A watch with a calendar is more complex, therefore more valuable. If a watch can measure lapsed time (like a stop watch) then such a timepiece is even more valuable. The more 'complications', the better. Each additional feature requires more complex engineering, more parts working together and a reduction in size. An automatic stop watch displaying day, date and month, as well as a 24 hour format is a very complex piece of machinery. Indeed, the most famous watchmakers of all time like Louis Breguet or Alfred Lange, have spent their entire lives squeezing more parts into a ever smaller cases. For them, complexity was the most important matter. Here is a practical example:

Can you tell which one of the two watches is more horologically important? Which one would Breguet buy? In a true horological sense, watchmaking is not about branding, colour scheme, size or even water resistance. Unfortunately, rightly or wrongly, our perception of what should be valued is a result of relentless marketing by megabrands, shaped by online influencers.  As of this moment - and forever on- when handed a watch, the first thing you should do is assess the watch for what it does. Ignore everything else.  Triple calendar chronograph. Moon phase chronograph. Dual time alarm. Or, just a humble 'time only' piece. Because this is what it is.  Only after that, you can move forward: to assess the quality of workmanship and design. Then, the maker and brand name. Always in that order.

NH2.1 assembled last night

 

What can we say? We are glad it's completed, assembled, adjusted and ready to go on display. One thing is certain: J20/25 was NOT a labour of love. It was purely hard work, day after day, month after month. A project which squeezed out all of our enthusiasm, the last micron of our machining capabilities, and one which tested our ability to work together and not to bite off each others heads. Trust me, we were close. Why? Because we set our goals high: NH2.1 is our most complex mechanism yet. It features a dozen newly 'manufactured in Australia' components in timascus, titanium, bronze and steel. It features both watch parts and machining processes which have not been made or developed in Australia in the past. Most importantly, each and every component in J20/25 has been finished to the absolute best of our ability; form  hardening, particle blasting, polishing, anodizing to 'black mirror finishes'.  As you may know the NH series movement architecture has been based on the ETA oscillation unit and gear train. The NH1 kicked us off with the development of our main plate and bridges, the fundamental building blocks of the movement architecture. We then moved to the NH2, where we started innovating with material choice for these main plates and bridges, using Timascus, a 3- part titanium, patterned alloy. We also innovated from a technical standpoint, with introducing slight improvements to the escapement with the addition of banking pins, which the watchmaker can adjust manually to set the beat error of the oscillator.  The NH2.1 is a natural progression in the improvement of our calibre, with the development of an updated winding gear train. A new crown wheel, ratchet wheel, click and click spring, gave us the ability to finely tune the winding feel of the movement. Furthermore, the new crown wheel mounting design gave us the community to add some more Timascus to the movement! From an aesthetic standpoint, a major innovation was the development of titanium screws. These screws are completely made in-house, using Grade 5 titanium, commonly used in the medical field. Anodization allows us to experiment with different colours, outside of the regular ferritic oxide layer colours (straw, maroon, blue)- we can now develop extremely deep blues, yellows, greens and purples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first and only time anyone has ever used titanium screws in watch movement architecture. Beyond all this, developing the NH2.1 pushed us even further - we developed our own unique tooth profile for the crown wheel to ensure smooth running of the winding system. We also focused heavily on hand finishing extremely delicate components like the click and click spring. For that reason, NH2.1 is much more than a watch. It is a "one of a kind" watch that a new owner can take to ANY watch boutique anywhere in the world - from Lange to Patek, from JLC to IWC, and the boutique staff will be impressed because the magic of timascus, the finishes, anodized titanium and overall design, is something they have not seen before. Yes, there are countless more complex, more expensive, more exciting watches out there - yet NH2.1 is simply a special one: proudly and unashamedly designed, manufactured, hand finished, assembled and adjusted in Australia, by Australians. Price $14,800

Vallee de Joux - un art de vivre

Jaeger LeCoultre is one of the few watch manufacturers who are able to merge the beauty of forms and useful functions in perfect harmony. The flawlessness of their movements is legendary but what sets LeCoultre ahead of competition is something very unique to Manufacture - the ability to master down even the minutest of details with a practical refinement that is rarely seen, even in the finest watches.

In the case of the Master Control line, a very simple, yet unique hand engraved signature of the Horologer (watchmaker) can be found on the case back, accompanied with its date of assembly. Not only you know when your watch was created but also who created it!

Four additional fields on the case back are reserved for signatures of watchmakers who will service this watch in the future.



So here is my message to all young ambitious and aspirant watchmakers: pack up your bags and head to Vallee de Joux in Switzerland. If your desire is to become a true horologer - the one of few who can actually sign his or her work- then the best place to learn trade is the House of Manufacture - Jaeger LeCoultre.