“Firstly, this watch is about accuracy.” This was the sentiment from Jaeger-LeCoultre’s CEO Jerome Lambert as he was explaining JLC’s big release at the recently concluded SIHH – the Duometre a Spherotourbillon.
It is safe to say that all watches from the Duometre line are about accuracy with their double gear train. Double barrel, and double regulator set up. This lay out results in the watch using two power sources – one for the main timekeeping functions, and another for any complications present. This came about because watchmakers realized that when a complication was activated it would pull power from the timekeeping function and would give variances in its accuracy.
The JLC Duometre a Spherotourbillon, however, doesn’t carry an additional complication; at least not in the sense of one that drains power. Therefore, there is one regulator for the hours and one for the minutes. On top of that, there is a tourbillon which rotates on a 20° axis, making fir a visually stunning display. The tourbillon has a dual-axis, and dual-cage which, operate to combat the effects of gravity regardless of the position of the watch, very much like the Gyrotourbillon that Jaeger-LeCoultre released some time back.
This model has yet another technical advantage in the form of a Flyback seconds corrector, which is used to synchronize the time at zero. There are a couple clear advantages with this option. The first is that normally when you are setting a regular mechanical watch everything stops and all momentum is lost, and secondly, this just looks very cool with the pusher at the 2 o’clock position.
Apart from the tourbillon and the Flyback seconds, this watch also carries a second time zone and two power reserve indicators – one for each barrel. Together, the barrels offer a total of 50 hours of power reserve. This visually striking watch is available in a limited series of 50 watches in platinum, and a series production in 18kt pink gold. The pink gold version will retail for USD $262,000.
