The Rendez-Vous Celestial by Jaeger LeCoultre at baselworld 2013

The new watches by Jaeger-LeCoultre has a rendezvous with the sky. It offers an authentic anthem to the creative freedom that has inspired the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux since 1833. Paying tribute to artistic crafts, its elegance is inextricably bound up with its mechanical excellence. Created in complete harmony with traditional horology, it illustrates 180 years of history, expertise and technical perfection. The Rendez-Vous Celestial by Jaeger-LeCoultre is an invitation to embark on a galactic voyage and a vivid reminder that, 180 years ago, it was beneath the same star-studded sky that Antoine LeCoultre gave rise to what would become the Grande Maison in the Vallée de Joux. Nestling in its 18-carat white gold case, the watch reveals the full force of charm by a ricochet effect. Like a luminous echo, diamonds dance across the sides of the case all the way to the crowns and the bezel, before unfurling like a diadem above the numerals. The dial succumbs to the beauty of rare crafts while preserving the impeccable readability of all the functions. The collection’s characteristic hour numerals feature a contemporary shape stretching across the curve of a crescent that is hand-guilloché according to the ancestral tradition of this decorative art, and coated with a transparent blue lacquer. The hour arc tops a disc providing a spectacular vision of the sky with the constellation appearing on a precious lapis lazuli plate. Offering a delightfully lyrical touch, the designers of the model have chosen to incorporate a shooting star as a means of customising time: via a second crown adorned with an inverteddiamond, the mobile star serves to set a personal rendezvous with the stars. Accentuating the celestial ambitions that make this watch a perfect instrument for making astronomical observations, a zodiac calendar on the dial serves to show the position of the constellations at any moment of the year, by means of an annual calendar that governs the system of time display and measurement. The mechanical automatic movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 809, rotates the star disc at the imperceptibly gradual pace of one turn every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 04 seconds.