Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre à Spherotourbillon - A Compelling Panorama.

This is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre à Spherotourbillon, one of the most remarkable new watches unveiled at SIHH 2012.  It features a compendium of indications, all beautifully arranged on the right side of the dial, but these pale to insignificance - what really draws you in is the superb tourbillon over on the left.

This is a perfectly proportioned dial, the hours and minutes subdial is encircled by a date indicator, above and below it are two power reserve indicators, one for functions, the other for the movement and just to the left of these, above and below, are a 24-hour second time zone dial and a small seconds display.  That Jaeger-LeCoultre's designers still manage to maintain elegance and clarity while offering so much, is a testament to their skills, but in this case it is imperative that the  left side of the dial is uncluttered, for a tourbillon such as this one demands both space and attention.

This is a double-axis tourbillon - a tourbillon within a tourbillon, both of which rotate at different speeds.  Housed in titanium and inclined at a 20 degree angle, the inner inclined carriage completes a revolution in just 15 seconds, while the entire tourbillon mechanism completes a revolution in 30 seconds, a compelling spectacle, worthy of its generous sapphire panorama.

Also, the piece has an unusual, useful feature - the seconds hand can be reset without stopping the balance wheel or the tourbillon - simply pull out the crown and push on the flyback button at 2 o'clock - I say "simply" but this is an extremely ingenious and complicated function, which ensures precision resetting whilst not compromising the amplitude of the movement.

Inside the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 382 has twin spring barrel construction ensuring generous power reserve of 50 hours, and the meticulous hand finishing now expected from the very special Duometre collection.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre à Spherotourbillon comes presented in a 42mm 18 carat rose gold case.

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