Jaeger-LeCoultre

Antoine LeCoultre, from a Huguenot family long settled in the Vallée de Joux, set up a small workshop in Le Sentier after inventing a machine to cut watch pinions from steel. In 1844 he made the Millionomètre, the first instrument able to measure to a micron, and in 1847 a keyless system to wind and set a watch with the crown. He won a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.

In 1866 he and his son Elie founded LeCoultre & Cie., the valley's first full manufacture, bringing the many trades of watchmaking under one roof. By 1870 it employed about 500 people, and by 1900 it had created more than 350 calibres. From 1902, and for some 30 years, it supplied most of Patek Philippe's movement blanks.

In 1903 the Paris watchmaker Edmond Jaeger, supplier to the French Navy, challenged Swiss makers to produce his ultra-thin movements. Jacques-David LeCoultre, Antoine's grandson, took up the challenge, and in 1907 the firm made the Calibre 145, at 1.38 mm the world's thinnest movement; Cartier reserved Jaeger's movements for fifteen years. The two firms formed a partnership in 1917, and the collaboration led to the name Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1937.

The Reverso, with a case that flips over to protect the dial, was created in 1931 for polo players in India, its case designed by the engineer René-Alfred Chauvot. The Atmos clock, invented by Jean-Léon Reutter and powered by changes in air temperature, followed in production from the 1930s and has been the Swiss government's official gift to guests since 1950.

In 1991 IWC's director Günter Blümlein brought the company into the LMH group, alongside IWC and A. Lange & Söhne. Richemont bought LMH in 2000 and took full ownership of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Jérôme Lambert led the manufacture from 2002 to 2013 and went on to run Richemont.

Catherine Rénier was chief executive until 2024, when she moved to Van Cleef & Arpels, and Lambert returned to Jaeger-LeCoultre on 1 January 2025. The manufacture is still in Le Sentier.