SIHH 2016 – Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique

The SIHH 2016 will be the edition of the Reverso, an icon at Jaeger-LeCoultre, a watch that celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. We’ve seen several watches introduced already, like the Tribute editions or the new Classic versions – and the best is about to be introduced in Geneva. However, for those in a need for something different, no worries as JLC also has some more, some nice extra additions, like this new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique.

Apart from a tourbillon in the lower part of its dial, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique remains a rather simple and clean watch, with a design fully in the vein of the actual Jaeger-LeCoultre production. Right, you might think it’s a “simple tourbillon” (two words that are still quite difficult to associate) but you’d be wrong, as behind it apparent simplicity, this Master Grande Tradition features the very best of the normal tourbillons (without talking about the multiple axis SpheroTourbillon) by the manufacture: the Tourbillon Cylindrique.

What you can see in the photo is basically a one-minute tourbillon (meaning that the cage rotates on its own axis in one minute / 60 seconds), like the huge majority of the tourbillon produced nowadays. However, a tourbillon is usually equipped, like a normal watch, with a flat hairspring. Here, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique has a cylindrical balance spring, that is not shaped on an horizontal axis but on a vertical axis, creating a 3D “snail” – you can see it more in details here. This specific shape of the hairspring is supposed to bring even a better accuracy and to reduce the negative effects of gravity on the movement even more that a traditional flat tourbillon.

Previously, this specific Tourbillon Cylindrique was featured in more complicated watches, like the Duomètre à Sphérotourbillon, the Duometre Spherotourbillon Moon or the Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique à Quantième Perpetuel. Basically, the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique is the nude edition of the later, without the Perpetual Calendar complication, bringing a watch focused only on its regulator. The recipe is simple but perfectly elegant: a 42mm platinum case, some sword hands with the typical twin finish of JLC and the grained silver-toned dial dear to the brand (and that always looks superb in the flesh). One detail that changes the entire look of the watch is the recessed part on the lower half of the dial, just to have a clearer view on the tourbillon and its cylindrical balance spring.

Price: to be revealed at the SIHH 2016. More details on www.jaeger-lecoultre.com.