{"id":25904,"date":"2021-03-17T13:24:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T13:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/jaeger-lecoultre-master-grande-tradition-grande-complication\/"},"modified":"2024-06-02T19:10:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T17:10:15","slug":"30-minutes-wrist-jaeger-lecoultre-master-grande-tradition-grande-complication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/en\/30-minutes-wrist-jaeger-lecoultre-master-grande-tradition-grande-complication\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you look at the night sky from the Northern hemisphere, you will see it as it\u2019s reproduced on the blue dial of the Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/span><\/a> Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication<\/strong>. Moving from the Vasco da Gama<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to one of the five super complicated timepieces (I mean Tourbillons, Minute Repeaters or both) unveiled by the manufacture from Le Sentier at the last SIHH 2015<\/strong>, has been quite natural.<\/p>\n

\"\"This is the first time that Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong> adopts a rose gold case for its \u201castronomical\u201d<\/em> watch, that is capable of simultaneously displaying solar and sidereal hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"This is a good chance for me to explain how it actually works (it is the only flying tourbillon ever made to display the sidereal hour). Inside a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication<\/strong> the one minute flying tourbillon is also orbital, as it moves counterclockwise to display sidereal time. I guess master watchmakers at\u00a0Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong> opted for a one minute tourbillon to reproduce the earth\u2019s rotation along its axis, while its complete rotation, jointly with the blue dial and, as already mentioned, counter clockwise, is completed in 23 hours<\/strong>, 56 minutes<\/strong> and 4 seconds<\/strong>, a sidereal day\u2019s duration, widely used by astronomers to avoid any problems connected with the earth orbiting around the sun.<\/p>\n

\"\"A small gold sun placed peripherally on the dial, that rotates along a 24 hours ring<\/strong>, indicates whether it is day-time or night-time. On the blue dial for example the Great Bear<\/strong>, Cassiopeia<\/strong> and the twelve constellations from the zodiac are clearly visible. The \u201cearth\u201d is a masterpiece of micro-engineering: it is a flying tourbillon<\/strong> (thus only fixed on the movement side) made of 73 parts<\/strong>, 12,42mm wide<\/strong> and 3,85mm high<\/strong>. The tourbillon cage is made of titanium<\/strong>, it has a Breguet<\/strong> spring over-coil and its balance wheel<\/strong>, that vibrates at 4Hz<\/strong>, has 10 weight screws<\/strong> and 4 screws<\/strong> to fine-tune its inertia.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jaeger-LeCoultre <\/strong>has also equipped its Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication<\/strong> with a minute repeater<\/strong> complication (and redesigned the lateral slider for enhanced ergonomics), thus allowing for a third, acoustic<\/strong>, indication of hours<\/strong>, quarters<\/strong> and minutes<\/strong> too. The manufacture opted for a chime that sounds as a cathedral gong, hence a tone that ensures a resonance length<\/strong> far greater than that of a classic one.<\/p>\n

The quality of the cathedral gong is a terrain where the world\u2019s best manufactures constantly compete with each other; Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong> optimized the gong by replacing the round shape<\/strong> with a square one<\/strong>, to enlarge the contact surface (by perhaps equalizing<\/strong> the force distribution). It also adopted tr\u00e9buchet hammers<\/strong>, that you can see in this photo<\/p>\n

\"\"a technical solution whose design is patent pending, and whose outcome is the improvement from nearly 30%<\/strong> to 80%<\/strong> of the energy transmission released from the spring<\/strong> to the hammer<\/strong>. This solution, along with a silicon escapement<\/strong> and ceramic ball bearings<\/strong> for the tourbillon cage, aims to minimize friction<\/strong> and to improve efficiency<\/strong>, one of the greatest challenges a watchmaker has to face while designing such a complicated timepiece.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication<\/strong> has a 45mm<\/strong> wide and 15,8mm<\/strong> thick case. The movement, caliber Jaeger-LeCoultre 945<\/strong> has 527 parts<\/strong> and a 40 hours<\/strong> power reserve. I\u2019ve read here and there some negative comments about this watch being a bit too thick; this, to be honest, makes me smile, when we take into account not only how complicated it is, but how on top of that it adds a revolving dial with a tourbillon, placed outside the movement.<\/p>\n

In this case the three-dimensional effect is done on purpose I believe, as it gives the watch that visual depth typical of the night sky. What I would try to do, however, is an accelerated video, just to reproduce, in a short time, the tourbillon rotation along a sidereal day, something that just a few lucky people will be able to enjoy, as it will retail for more than 350,000<\/strong> Euro<\/strong>, approximately.<\/p>\n