JLC launches the Or Déco collection
Saturday, 30 May 2026
Jaeger Lecoultre used the Reverso exhibition in Miami to announce the Or Déco collection - 5 new watches in gold expanding last year’s well received Tribute Small Second rose gold (ref. Q713216J). Fratello has a good overview of the launch on their site.
As it sits, the collection now offers a white gold variant of the original, three models with gems (2 white gold, 1 rose gold) called Or Déco cocktail, and a simpler, smaller model without the small second at 6 o'clock called the Or Déco Solo Tempo available in rose gold only. For those unaware, ‘or’ is French for gold and the material is indeed the star of these models. The gem models are limited runs (30 each), a common approach for this kind of price bracket (which is not disclosed but certainly runs in the 6 digits). The Solo Tempo is a permanent reference.
I’m not close enough to JLC to know for sure if the original model, launched at last year’s Watches and Wonders, was meant as a one-off project or if there was already an entire potential range in the works. Either way, it’s clear that Jérôme Lambert can recognize a success when he sees one and he did the logical thing: build on top of it.
The finely grained dials and elegant Milanese bracelet continue to look gorgeous in white gold. It’s a nice alternative for those who appreciate the originality of the model, but would rather go for something slightly more understated.
The Or Déco branding didn’t exist last year when the original model was released. I wouldn’t read too much into it though - it’s entirely possible the possibility of extending the product into a collection was already there but the brand didn’t feel the need to create any specific branding for a one off model.
The addition of a Solo Tempo model (a new branding that may be used for other variations in the same case size for future new Tribute models?) is derived from the original smaller-size ref. Q713216J launched in September 2024. It makes for a nice entry point for those keen on a smaller case (or preferring the original 1930s dimensions) or a more affordable option, even if in this instance the price difference seems modest (roughly 10% - 36’500 CHF instead of 40,300). JLC seems to now make a point to offer an entry point to their core ranges with a smaller, more affordable reference : Reverso started the trend with ref. Q713216J in late 2024, Master Control introduced a limited edition 36mm model in late 2025 (ref. Q4008520, limited to 500 pieces), and recently Polaris soft-launched a 40mm model (ref Q9128981).
Speaking of more affordable entry point, there’s no stainless steel model - probably both for practical and strategic reasons. The whole point of the range is the sophisticated Milanese bracelet which seems complex to construct - I believe Lambert recently commented construction costs on a stainless steal version would simply not make sense commercially. I also suspect that JLC is happy to meet success of this kind with a gold reference and may not want to dilute this with a stainless steal model if they want to continue to rise their average selling point or elevate their positioning towards Vacheron, Länge and Patek. Those wanting the Tribute aesthetics in stainless steel in a nice monochrome vibe can turn to the existing Tribute Monoface we just mentioned, or its full-sized Q3908410 duo-face sibling with a white opaline dial.
On the whole the Or Deco is a nice success story for JLC - it’s gotten some nice exposure for the brand and adds to the Tribute sub-range, just like JLC seems to have pursued in its quest to move upward in the market.
It also seems to fall squarely into Lambert’s mantra of “recognize, recognize, recognize, surprise”. This leitmotiv comes from an article that Carson Chan wrote on his website Watch Professor after meeting Lambert at Watches and Wonders this year.
One of the strongest moments in our conversation came when we discussed icons and innovations. Jaeger-LeCoultre has true icons: Reverso, Master Control, and a long history of important technical and aesthetic work. The challenge with icons is always the same. If you change too much, you risk losing the identity. If you change too little, the watch becomes static.
Lambert summarized the approach beautifully: “Recognize, recognize, recognize, surprise”
(…) An icon must first be recognizable. The DNA, the style, the technical signature - these things must remain visible. But recognition alone is not enough. Lamber was very direct about it: a dead fish is still recognizable, but it has no life. A watch canoe familiar and still fail to create desire. There has to be tension between heritage and inventiveness”
Lambert’s sentence is a bit awkward taken out of the flow of the conversation, I wish we had that on tape. But I think Chan got the gist of it anyway - the winning formula is to take a well established product, and every now and then give it a solid creative twist. Chan continues:
I also brought up the Milanese bracelet on the Reverso. Lambert agreed that it is a good example. It is surprising, not strange. The Art Deco spirit of the Reverso and the character of a mesh bracelet have certain historical and stylistic relationship: The result feels unexpected, but it also makes sense:
JLC has done Milanese bracelets before, mostly in the 60s on some dressy pieces - but last year’s unapologetically gold Reverso tribute was a real spark of originality for the collection - and it went down very well indeed. The Or Deco collection is merely harping on that impulse. It’s good to see the brand take some creative risks with its designs, and I hope Lionel Favre and his product creation and design team will have more in store for JLC in the near future.
By Renaud
Haccart
ARCHIVE
Richemont announces annual results, put rumors of JLC sale to sleep
Saturday, 23 May 2026
Richemont published yesterday its annual results for the financial year ending 31 March 2026. In broad strokes: the Specialist Watchmakers division did not have a great year, but things finally picked up in late 2025 and early 2026, including for JLC. Owner Johann Rupert was present and gave answers in an entertaining Q&A, including an almost 10 minute aside on JLC.
WATCH SPECIALISTS HAVE A FLAT YEAR, JLC DOES OK
Richemont announced overall sales in progress of 5%, totaling € 22.4 billion. This figure hides some of the headwinds outside of the Group’s control, in particular currency fluctuations (in constant currency exchange rates, sales growth would have reached double digit at 11%). Profit rose to € 3.5 billion, up 27% compared to the previous year. Not bad.
La Compagnie Financière Richemont is organized in 3 divisions: jewelry, watch specialists and ‘other’ (basically fashion and accessories). The jewelry business, made of (in alphabetical order) Buccellati, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Vhernier is clearly the star of the show, bringing in € 16.5 billion in sales compared to the Watch Specialists group’s 3.1 billion and the ‘Other’’s 2.7. The Jewelry Maisons had a good year, with sales progressing by 8% (14% in constant exchange rate), profit coming at € 5 billions and operating margins at a cosy 30%.
The picture is quite different for the Specialist Watchmakers group which pools Vacheron Constantin, IWC, JLC, Panerai, A. Lange & Söhne, Piaget, Roger Dubuis and Baume & Mercier. Sales were “up modestly” at € 3.1 billion. Richemont does not break down results by Maisons, but the situation seems to have been contrasted within the division with the annual report explicitly mentioning a “sequential improvement in the second half of the year for A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin”. The report further noted that this performance was underpinned by novelties like the Reverso Tribute models (which were at the heart of the announcements made at Watches and Wonders 2025. Looks like the Polaris novelties launched through 2025 might not had met the same success).
This rebound of activity in late 2025 and early 2026 align with Jérôme Lambert’s comment to Le Temps back in March, when he mentioned that employees at the manufacture had been back to working full time after taking some measures to reduce hours in 2024 and first half of 2025. This also seems to square with the annual Morgan Stanley report prepared with the help of Olivier Müller at LuxeConsult, which seem to indicate JLC holding steady (doing less well than Richmond’s largest Watch Specialist Vacheron Constantin, but having been able to progress sales on the back of diminishing volumes).
As the financial report comments, it’s been a challenging past 24 months for the watch industry at large, and it’s good to see JLC being among the brands benefiting from an improvement in the market. This also seems to dispel the thesis that Richemont might consider selling JLC because of a disappointing level of performance: the brand seems to be among the “good pupils” in the Watch Specialists division.
One interesting tidbits in these results (besides serving as a reminder that the Watch Specialists are a much smaller group than the Jewelers group) is that margins have just not been good. While the Jewelry Maisons can boast operating margins of 30%, the Watch Specialist group’s margin came at 3% this year (5% in 2025). This number could hide significant disparities among brands, but at least it gives an idea of how different the landscape is for watchmakers compared to jewelers. Market-wise, the Americas was the clear source of growth (sales were up 12%), compensating in part for declines in Asia and Japan (-12% and -14%) respectively. Again, the mix for JLC could be quite little different than the rest of the Watch Specialist group, but this gives idea of the general backdrop to JLC’s encouraging rebound (and also aligns with JLC selectively closing some boutiques in China during the year).
Once the initial financial results announcement over, the meeting moved to the Q&A part, with Johann Rupert taking on most questions from the bank analysts present.
“THIS NONSENSE ABOUT JAEGER”
The 75 year old owner of Richemont is quite the character - an entrepreneur at heart, not afraid to give an honest piece of his mind to his audience if the occasion arises. The atmosphere was jovial though; with Rupert on a first name basis with most analysts in the room. I’d recommend listening to the whole segment (the video of the meeting and the written transcript are available on Richemont’s website) to get a sense of the character if you’ve never heard him. .
Things got interesting for JLC observers when Luca Solca, a Bernstein analyst, referred to the sale of Baume & Mercier announced early in 2026 and asked if other simplification was in the cards. At 1:00:35 in the recording, Luca Solca asked:
“My second question was on the perimeter. I think the market and investors saw with pleasure the simplification, the business simplification you have been bringing forward, the divestiture of Baume & Mercier. Can you tell us maybe how the other divisions' businesses are doing and if there is any further latitude and opportunity for simplification? Thank you very much.”
Rupert started his reply with Baume & Mercier, sold in January to Italian multi brand distributor Damiani:
“You know - it’s sad, because Baume was one of our very first Maisons. You know, qt times one must realize that for Baume, we are not their best owner. They need more flexibility. They need to — crudely put, they need to be able to act more “entrepreneurial”. We have very fixed cost structure and I think the new owners… Baume was always an Italian brand. It always did very very very well [in Italy]. We wish them luck! We’ve tried. And sometimes it is better that somebody else does.”
Without skipping a beat, he then turned to the other side of the question, taking it as a polite hint at the rumors that Richemont could be looking to sell JLC:
“This nonsense about Jaeger. I mean - please, how can you - who’s with UBS here? You apparently believe what you read there.”
(an analyst from UBS in the room tries to push back)
“Please - whoever says that, never trust them again. There are two or three of them or, bloggers, who really do not have a clue and are spurring nonsense. For us (points to Nicolas Bos and Burhart Grund, Richemont’s CEO and CFO sitting alongside him) this doesn’t mean a damn thing but imagine if you’re a worker at Jaeger. It’s unfair. And sooner or later somebody will actually sue them because it’s a lie. It was never discussed. In fact - you want to know how we got the whole group.”
Rupert then spent a few minutes (from the 1:03:15 mark onward) telling the story of how he took an interest in mechanical watch (Richemont already had Cartier at the time but the catalogue most mostly made of quartz watches), how the sale of Les Maisons Horlogères by VDO represented the last great opportunity to enter the market, and how he won the bid against Swatch Group after a visit to his “absolute hero” Gunter Blümlein in Schaffhausen (apprently pronounced “Shafhoose” if you want a taxi driver to accept your instruction to drive you there). Bringing his story to the conclusion he wanted to reach:
“Part of the extreme price we paid [for LMH] was for [Gunter] and then he had bone cancer. It was an absolute tragedy. But the key that he used, and I think you must all understand this, the key that he used, the expertise that he used, is Jaeger Lecoultre. And up to today, Jaeger is the watch company, the Maison, the manufacture, that can do nearly every component of a watch except maybe leather straps. They can do everything. In a sense they have helped so many other Maisons, you know, if somebody else run into trouble. So there is no way in which it would ever have been contemplated. And I am saying this to you so when you hear these stories, please, do not listen - because it’s rubbish. We’re very loyal to them, they make phenomenal watches.
[to his son Anton Rupert, a Non-executive director of Richemont sitting next to him]: I mean, what have you got on your arm Anton?
Anton Rupert: The Cardinal Points Vacheron Overseas
Johann Rupert: Okay. But that’s only because you and I cannot get the steel because we are waiting for the steel Jaeger. They made a new steel watch which is phenomenal - the new Master line, that is *spectacular.
It’s not their fault, it is our fault that we haven’t been able to explain to the rest of the world that it is. It is the watchmaker’s watchmaker. You speak to watchmakers, they look up to Jaeger. So trust me, it’s… - I won’t use the word in front of ladies - but don’t believe it.
Essentially, Rupert went into a fairly personal and emotional sidebar (calling Blümlein his hero twice) to explain that Jaeger is certainly not and has never been in the last few month for sale. This, associated with the fairly good results of JLC (relative to the rest of its division) should put any rumor to rest now and for the near future.
Some thoughts ahead of Richemont’s full year results
Thursday, 21 May 2026
Back in February, luxury industry insider Miss Tweed wrote about a rumor: Jérôme Lambert might be in the process of forming a pool of investors to take JLC private from Richemont. The news got some traction on various JLC fan pages and forums - but publications like Fratello or Hodinkee chose not to amplify it.
I see two aspects to that discussion: Richemont might be open to sell JLC, and Lambert would be leading a newly independent entity. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think there are a few factors that make this scenario somewhat possible.
GOING PRIVATE
In late 2024, Richemont took everyone by surprise by replacing Catherine Rénier with Jerome Lambert as CEO of Jaeger LeCoultre. These rotations are not uncommon within Richemont, but seeing a senior executive leave their position at Group level to head a brand is certainly less common.
When the rumor broke, many commentators (including the podcast I mentioned earlier this week) felt that this might be a sign Richemont think JLC has little more potential to offer. I think there’s a big to recency bias at play - Richemont had just announced it was selling its entry-level brand Baume & Mercier, in a move universally seen as removing a brand Richemont felt didn’t align with the rest of the portfolio.
Many fan de JLC feel that the recent decade has seen the brand lose some of its personality and/or rely on price increase rather than a more ambitious strategy. And so they see the news of a potential sale as confirmation that the manufacture may not be doing well.
Richemont does not break down the sale of its watch brands and reliable data remains elusive. JLC seems to have slipped a little compared to other names on the leaderboard of Morgan Stanley’s annual report on the industry and has certainly not grown at the same pace as sister brand Vacheron. But - we can also consider the trajectory of Catherine Rénier, who was JLC’s CEO from 2018 through 2024 and who left the helm of the manufacture to become CEO of Van Cleef and Arpels. Regardless of what one might think of her tenure, you usually don’t get rewarded with a leadership position in a business about thee times the size of the one you’re leaving if you did a poor job there. I suspect Rénier’s performance at the head at JLC, at least financially and compared not just to Vacheron (definitely the one good pupil of the class at the time) but the whole watch specialists portfolio, might actually have been at least satisfactory.
The other thing to consider - and I don’t mean that as a knock against other sister brands - is that if Richemont want to continue to offload brands for strategic reasons, other names like Panerai or IWC could fit that bill just as well, especially if we consider sales performance in recent years. Selling a storied name like JLC seems like an odd choice when you have other options at hand.
SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A MANUFACTURE
What might differ JLC from other candidates for a sale is its price tag, probably larger than if Richemont was to sell other accessible luxury brands in its portfolio. One reason to sell something valuable is if you need the money. Now of course, Richemont is not exactly on the verge of bankruptcy - so one rumor that has made the round is that the Group might be seeking to purchase a large independent name requiring a large amount of money. And selling JLC might be one way to secure those plans.
What name out there might be “on the market” and worth selling such a valuable manufacture as JLC? Patek and Rolex are certainly not for sale. It’s hard to imagine the Swatch group putting up for sale anything Richemont might be interested in. Zenith would not really add anything compared to JLC. Richard Mille is a nice name but seems too close to Roger Dubuis in term of target market. This leaves us with another famous name from the Vallée de Joux which, while not officially up for sale (at least as far as non-insiders know) is still mostly family owned. It’s not too difficult to imagine that some of the Audemars Piguet shareholding might be keen on cashing out on the company and feel like Richemont could be a decent steward compared to the LVMHs of the world. For Richemont, and with all due respect for JLC, trading la LeCoultre for Audemars Piguet would certainly represent a step up.
Again - I don’t have a crystal ball and the above remains pure speculation. That said, it could fit quite nicely with the choice of Lambert as a CEO at this juncture.
A WHOLE NEW ADVENTURE FOR LAMBERT?
If 2025 was fairly quiet, 2026 has been extremely active for JLC with an avalanche of novelties at Watches and Wonders - including a brand new collection put together barely within a year - some impressive new Atmos in Milan and new Reversos building on the success of last year’s Tribute Gold Small Seconds. Lambert has always had internally the reputation of someone relentlessly pushing the business forward - but he seems to really have been particularly active since his return, as if on a mission to prove the potential of the company. Turns out this could have been his mandate when he accepted to lead once again the manufacture.
At age 55 when the announcement was made, Lambert probably has (at least) a solid decade of career ahead of him. It’s entirely plausible that after having enjoyed some years at the leadership of a holding company like Richemont, Lambert could seek a more entrepreneurial challenge. Spending his final decade in his career leading an independent JLC could offer him just that, in a company he already knows inside out and helped build some 20-odd years ago.
Whether JLC could be sold to a competitor or go independent remain an open question. In a way, one could imagine that Richemont would not be too keen to put one of its most storied brands in the hands of LVMH, Swatch Group or even Partners Group (the Private Equity firm controlling Breitling). Buying an independent while ceding JLC to a pool of independent investors (including Lambert himself) feels like a more elegant scenario - even if I have no idea if Lambert actually has the means to pull off such a plan.
The good news is, Richemont will announce its annual results in just over 24 hours. Their investor call would be the perfect place for an announcement if one has been in the works over the last 18 months.
THE RISE AND RETREAT OF JAEGER-LECOULTRE - CAN GOING INDEPENDENT SAVE THE BRAND?
Monday, 18 May 2026
Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly of Collective Horology had a fun speculative conversation back in early March. This was after rumors bubbled to the surface of Richemont possibly letting CEO Jérôme Lambert take JLC independent.
The discussion is 45 minutes long in the usual friendly tone of the Openwork podcast and well worth listen. In terms of retreat following the turn-around operated under Gunter Blümlein at VDO and Les Manufactures Horlogères, they set the scene as such:
In the early 2000s, after joining the Richemont Group, JLC was the number one watch brand by sales in the Richemont Group. Bigger in sales than IWC, than Vacheron, than Lange. (…) And it was a top 10 brand overall by sales in the time that Morgan Stanley has been reporting this. So from 2018 until now, JLC has slipped from number 10 in the industry by overall sales, down to about number 16 as of the latest reporting.
Their main culprit, in their view, is Richemont - and a rise in prices that may or may not feel justified.
Richemont’s portfolio of “specialist watchmakers” is made of Baume & Mercier (well, up to recently anyway), Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, JLC, Panerai, Piaget and Roger Dubuis. As details by many a scholar like Pierre-Yves Donzé in his history of the Swatch Group, the Groups that emerged at the turn of the century aim to cover various segments of the market with their brands and tend, as a result, to have them not fight between themselves for the same clients. And so Rapkin and Reilly make the argument that one reason why JLC may not have been able to fully scale their wings is that they can’t go toe to toe with the likes of Vacheron or Lange and have to contend with their current segment alongside IWC or Panerai. And going independent would allow them to do more risk taking.
I kinda see the argument - but at the same time I’m not sure JLC necessarily receives strict limitations from the holding in terms of what they can do (and those familiar with the Blümlein years will remember that some ideas from JLC were “stolen” to be used by Lange!). JLC has been working hard on developing and advertising their Métiers d’Arts and the High Horology workshop - things one would expect to be squarely associated with Vacheron and Lange. Should there be strict rules of no direct competition, why would JLC be allowed to release new Grande Tradition and Hybris references? I do agree though that the past decade has been fairly safe design-wise.
They discuss the Polaris in passing, and I will add that JLC’s foray in the sports watch segment in the Richemont era offers an interesting example of aversion to risk. In 2002, needing sport swatch in the collection, JLC launched the Master Compressor. That collection was eventually phased out maybe a decade ago, and later replaced in 2018 by the current Polaris collection. Both collections took inspiration from the same original 1950s watch, yet one came out with a strong personality while the other feels far less daring. I agree with Rapkin and Reilly that JLC has forgotten how to take risks in recent years, but I’m just not sure this has to do with being part of a large conglomerate.
Add a lack of models with a strong personality with prices rising faster than inflation (or direct competition) and you end up in a difficult place where you’re competing with your peers with one hand tied behind your back due to your elevated prices but also can’t fight on equal footing with the aspirational luxury brands starting at 20k because your core collection lacks a defining personality.
Is the solution going independent? I remain a little skeptical that a lack of autonomy is what’s weighting JLC down at the moment. Rapkin and Reilly see two broad potential strategies ahead: either reverse some of the price hikes and offer top quality watchmaking at a competitive price, or continue to go upmarket but in that case, really lean into the brand’s design language to give it distinctive characteristics (beyond the well-known Reverso).
Watches and Wonders 2026
Thursday, 14 May 2026
At Watches and Wonder 2025, JLC launched 5 Reversos: the “price upon request” Tribute Minute Repeater, the more approachable Tribute Geographic and Duo-face Small Seconds with a black dial, a pink gold Milanese loop Tribute Small Seconds and a diamond studded Reverso One. Compared to the three Duomètres and the refreshed Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar announced in 2024, this seemed like a decent line up. Part of the reason for this measured number of novelties was because the launches were planned across the full calendar year.
Things seem to have changed for 2026, with a significantly augmented number of novelties.
THE VALLEY OF INVENTIONS
Like in years past, JLC used an overall theme to underpin its booth and provide a narrative for the launch of its novelties. Continuing with past trends of closely associating the manufacture with its geographic locale, this year’s theme was “the Valley of Inventions”, framing the Vallée de Joux (and by extension one of its two most famous residents) as a space rich with innovations. As usual a short film accompanied the campaign, displaying for 4 minutes enchanting views of woody mountaintops and the people at the origin of the manufacture - complete with a campaign logo. Geographic origin - and the authenticity that comes with the theme - remain a cornerstone of JLC’s communication.
Also like years past, the booth had an experiential space providing a link with the brand’s ‘Made of Makers’ programme. Last year visitors were treated to lovely chocolate pastries creations by Mathieu Davoine at the 1931 Polo Club. For 2026, JLC went savory with elegant cheese creations by Gilles Varone at the JLC Chalet. I didn’t get to try this year’s delicacies but if they were anything like in previous years, these must have been quite delicious indeed.
At a personal level, I often feel a little conflicted about what is ultimately niceties. On the one hand, all these concepts make the experience of visiting the booth more engaging and more memorable. They help JLC offer more than just a few watch to admire and help create an entire brand universe. If you take the time to sit down and enjoy the intricate creations on offer, you walk away having spent a lovely time regardless of if you saw any watch that really tickled your fancy. The ‘Made of Makers’ program helps reinforce the idea that JLC is first and foremost a manufacture and the natural home for creatives and makers of all kinds. The film provides a cinematic touch and helps hammer home year the idea of JLC being the inheritor of a special place at the heart of Swiss horology. It’s about educating newcomers to the world of luxury watches and building up the brand year after year.
On the other hand, I do wonder how much of these messages are already carried by the products themselves, and if piling up marketing concepts doesn’t end up diluting the core message. In 2026 alone, we have ‘Made of Makers’, ‘The Valley of Inventions’, ‘The Valley of Merveilles’, ‘The Watchmaker of Watchmakers’. That’s a lot of messages, and I can’t help wonder how many prospective buyers are able to walk away from the JLC booth (or its website) with a clear idea of what owning a JLC watch should mean to them.
THE MASTER CONTROL CHRONOMETRE
But enough of the marketing conversation and let’s talk about the products. As fans will know, JLC approach Watches and Wonders in 2-year cycles: there are Reverso years and non-Reverso years. 2026 was the later (2025 had The 1931 Polo Club - I wonder how close to a lawsuit Ralph Lauren’s legal department must have been), and the big news was a new addition to the Master Control line, with the Master Control Chronometre collection.
I covered this novelty in a separate post so I won’t spend too much time on it here. On the whole, the new watches seem to have made a very good impression judging by the positive feedback in the press and the interest of potential clients. I certainly found them lovely addition to the catalogue - elegant, fresh, yet also immediately recognizable as JLCs for anyone familiar with the brand. JLC took a bit of a risk by debuting three watches from the get-go (the original Master Control started by itself in 1992), mitigated by the fact the production had yet to start in earnest by the time these watches were revealed.
Something that hasn’t been much commented upon is how fast this collection came to market. Lambert came back a little over a year ago - that’s not a lot of time to design from the ground up a brand new collection like this. This came with some trade-off: only a very small number of prototypes were available to show to VIPs and media at Watches and Wonders, so much so that the few models available had to be rotated in boutiques across the world so everyone could see them in the flesh. It also caused some initial confusion, the pre-production models not featuring the adjustment clasp that will be present in production models to be delivered in a few months. As capable as the manufacture is, JLC is no Apple - producing a brand new collection at scale from day one is just not in the cards. But on the whole, the efforts to have the Master Control Chronometre launch at W&W 2026 rather than later in the year or in 2027 remain testament to a brand clearly on the offensive .
THE HIGH END
As often, JLC supplemented its core range novelties with High Horology models meant to display the manufacture’s full scale of capabilities. 2026 saw two Master Hybris models and one Master Grande Tradition introduced.
The Hybris models are not a collection per se but a name assigned to the company’s most technologically impressive watches. They’re part of the High Watchmaking offering of the brand, produced by its own production team separate from the rest of the production. Hybris-series watches function a bit like concept cars in the auto making industry: while they won’t sell in meaningful numbers or really add to the bottom line given the costs involved, they help give visibility to the manufacture’s technical credentials. They also give engineering teams an opportunity to stretch their muscle and, potentially, earn a few lessons in the process that might be later used in normal production.
Hybris models, up to this year, came in two flavors: Hybris Mechanica for models pushing the envelop on technical innovation, and Hybris Artistica for models displaying exceptional artistic work (think: métiers d’arts being given the spotlight).
2026 is giving us one new Hybris Mechanica, the Master Hybris Mechanica Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Tourbillon. Powered by calibre 362 and its 593 components (that’s almost twice the number of components found in the brand’s dress watch perpetual calendar), the overall presentation is reminiscent of the other Hybris Mechanica in the catalogue, the cal. 362 - but in rose gold and open work.
I tend to no feel too attracted by watches of that kind - their price point is such that they mostly feel like a curiosity, and JLC usually sticks to a fairly classical visual style. That said - the use of transparent sapphire bridges is pretty cool, and it’s fairly mind-boggling to consider that the watch offers a minute repeater, a tourbillon and an automatic caliber all within the 8.25mm of its case. We’re not Altiplano territory but that’s not the point, and the end result reminds everyone that JLC remain one of the leaders in the domain of ultra thin watches.
There was another Hybris watch introduced in the line up, but that one came with a twist, intruding a whole new category in the Hybris family: the Master Master Hybris Inventiva Gyrotourbillon à Stratosphère. This new Inventiva denomination gathers models presenting particular technological breakthrough - in this case a triple-axis tourbillon able to cover 98% of all possible positions for the component. JLC described it as “a tourbillon within another tourbillon within yet another tourbillon” (shame they couldn’t come up with that watch and place it on Christopher Nolan’s Inception like they placed a Reverso in one of his Batman movies). Very impressive indeed even if one can wonder if we are slowly entering the realm of Gilette marketing arms race..
Jokes aside, the watch looks right at home with some blue grand feu enamel that echoes the Master Grande tradition Q52334E1 - and the tourbillon’s close up pictures is a thing to behold with its 198 components occupying less than 2cm3. The future will tell us if more innovations of that kind is on the way, but the fact that JLC felt compelled to create a third denomination in the Hybris family seems to indicate that the House is dead serious about pushing things further.
Last of the three high-end novelties, the Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Jumping Date (Ref. Q4202480). Although this is not indicated on the JLC website, this is a limited edition of a hundred. This time JLC opted for an asymmetrical dial that feels busier than usual and a little different from the current Master Grande Tradition collection. The logo at 3 o’clock is somewhat reminiscent of the Master Grande Tradition stylings of the 2000s, but the business of the dial - at least in pictures - seems a little gratuitous. Does the dial really need those visible screws at 2 o’clock? That 24hr wheel at 12 that follows home time? To me, there’s something about the way this watch tries to show a lot that echoes cheaper watches trying to look complicated. On the inside we find the excellent caliber 978, equipped with a titanium tourbillon that won a very competitive concours de chronométrie in 2009, and remain to this day the best single-axis tourbillon on record according to Stéphane Belmont, JLC’s Patrimony Director. This might be q model that might truly reveal itself in person rather than online (a complex dial might work better on a 42mm canvas in real life - proportions matter), and might seduce a different crowd than the rest of the collection.
REVERSO
As much as this was a non-Reverso year, JLC’s workshops still found the time to put its high horology and gem-setting teams to work with no less than 7 new Reverso - 4 men enamel and 3 women gem-studded models. These kind of products are not new to the Maison, but the entire set could easily make you forget that 2026 is not about the Reverso.
These watches (especially the colorful Reverso Ones) are simply beautiful works of art, up there with the best of them, and are presented under a new banner called “La Vallée des Merveilles” (tm), seemingly signaling that the Maison intends to make such models a permanent fixture in the JLC catalogue. Métiers d’arts have been a key pillar in JLC’s strategy for a long time and Lambert might just be doubling-down on that. Considering the kind of money Cartier or the jewelry arm of Richemont seem to bring in, Iit’s hard to fault him and the result is simply a delight for the eyes.
THE SOFT LAUNCHES
As if all of the above was not enough, JLC also debuted a handful of references meant to offer more variations of existing models. These were not advertised but made their silent apparition on the JLC website at the same time as the other novelties. In no particular order, we got:
A new Reverso Classic Monoface in 35.78 x 21mm (ref. Q2608442 for the stainless steel, leather band version)
A new Reverso Classic Monoface Origin in 32.5 x 16.3 mm (ref. Q3878560)
A new Reverso Classic Duetto in 34.2 x 22 mm (ref. Q2668123)
A new Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds in white in 42.9 x 25.5mm (ref. Q3908410)
A new Polaris Date in 40mm (ref . Q9128981)
A new Rendez-vous Classic Hour-Minutes (ref. Q3658110)
I like that the brand is being intentional about its launches - the above products were all ready for release in April, but JLC made sure they wouldn’t canibalize the attention from the novelties that mattered.
Notably, the manufacture seems to want to offer more - more sizes, more variations, and in some cases extent more price points. There’s always a tension at a manufacturer between trying to cover as much of the market as possible (heck, that was even the leitmotiv of the industry a century ago) and keeping cost down and your product range cohesive by not trying to be everything to everyone.
JLC seemed to have swung a bit in the direction of a standardized product shelf under Catherine Rénier. The limited edition 36mm Master Control (ref. Q4008520) launched in December was an interesting foray into bringing back more options and it’s nice to see new management follow through.
DIGITAL PRESENTATION
Back in 2024, Rénier presented a 30 minutes keynote early in the Watches and Wonders week. This wasn’t renewed by Lambert in 2025, so it was a pleasant surprise when a little ahead of this year’s exhibition week, JLC invited the public (via its website and its mailing list) to register for a ‘Digital Presentation’ on the Saturday of Watches & Wonders.
The technical set-up was a little different this time around. No live broadcast via the Watches and Wonders website (followed by a replay that’s still online a year later), but rather a Microsoft Teams invite. It’s not clear to me if Watches and Wonders didn’t offer technical support this year for similar keynotes to take place, but let me take it out of the way: this set up was awkward, especially if like me you were on the go at the time of the presentation and with a poor network. To access the call, you had to identify yourself through a log on process - think of a work meeting where you have to input manually your name and credential rather than just click on a link. That’s not the best experience at the best of time - and it only gets punishing if you have to start from scratch every time you lose connection for a few seconds. This was not ideal.
This year’s presentation was not led by Jerome Lambert but featured instead Stéphane Belmont and hosted by Nicolas (Fermont? There was no formal intro at the start of the call…), JLC’s Patrimony Director and Communication Director respectively (if that was him indeed). The format was also radically different: rather than a keynote, this was more of a hands-on product presentation in the same way a VIP would have experienced by visiting the JLC booth and getting to sit down with Belmont to discuss the novelties in person.
At face value, it’s nice to see faces beyond Lambert take the microphone and offer people an experience similar to what one would get had they been able to visit the JLC booth in Switzerland. It’s also nice that the call was live, allowing those attending to raise questions on the spot. The exercise felt casual and congenial and lasted in all about 30 minutes. While no video has been posted on any official channel, a generous soul captured the feed and put it on YouTube where it is still visible (for the time being at least).
I’ll be honest: this felt a bit of a step back step-back compared to 2024. I was expecting a keynote-style product presentation, and what was shared instead was something far less polished (“is this working?”) and doing far less for the Maison than an event could have. I have two major issues with this event:
the event was scheduled on Saturday - a full 4 days after novelties had been announced to the media and on JLC’s own website. With generous information on all products available at launch; there was little left for Belmont to cover that hadn’t been available elsewhere. I understand that the general public is more likely to be available on a Saturday - but if you’re trying to create excitement around a launch, that’s probably not the way to do it.
The meeting invitation and confirmation email failed to set the right expectations. I’ll save my thoughts around the opportunity of a proper JLC keynote for a separate post, but it would have been useful for the messaging advertising the event to be crystal clear that the presentation was going to be a hands-on presentation of the novelties (by Belmont no less - this also wasn’t clear!) rather than let people imagine a more ambitious event in line with Rénier’s presentation 2 years prior. This would have prevented disappointment among enthusiasts expecting more while letting the right audience self select for this.
I also have some quibbles with some of the blind spots of the presentation itself - the two Hybris watches were simply not there (and neither were they mentioned, strangely) and while discussing the new Master Chronometre range, Belmont did not follow up on his colleague’s segway on the HPG hallmark and instead suggested the audience to check JLC’s website to learn more. These gaps felt bizarre and left me wanting.
On the plus side, it was a nice opportunity to see the watches in the metal and get a sense of their general proportions. Not everyone was able to travel to Switzerland or even has a JLC boutique in their vicinity and this presentation had the merit of filling that gap.
JLC IS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
On the whole and as an outsider looking in, W&W 2026 felt like a very good edition for la LeCoultre. The new Master Chronometre collection landed well, Lambert and managers at JLC spared no effort through the week engaging with VIPs and various media, and the volume of novelties was impressive.
This didn’t happen by accident - there seems to be a real shift in strategy in wanting to launch headline novelties at Watches & Wonders rather than pepper them over the course of the entire year. This also required a sustained effort from the various teams that make the manufacture so everything could be ready by the time April came around. Watches and Wonders is always an intense time of the year for JLC staff but this year I’m hearing felt extra instance.
The industry was taken by surprise when Richemont announced in late 2025 that Jérôme Lambert would become once again JLC’s CEO. This year’s exhibition was the first with Lambert fully back at the helm of the Manufacture, and the least we can say is that JLC is firing on all cylinders. And that’s before even taking into consideration the Milan Design Week event that saw multiple Atmos models launch, or the Reverso cocktail debuted at the MET. Core range, métiers d’arts, High Horology, Atmos - everyone is contributing to a very prolific year to date and Lambert has been driving his teams hard to get to this result. That’s apparently always been his modus operandi, even during his first run at the head of the company. We can’t tell yet if he intends to continue to drive the manufacture this hard for the rest of the year. But on the strength of Watches and Wonders 2026 alone, 2026 is shaping up to be a great year for JLC.
HODINKEE DISCUSSES THE REVERSO OR DECO COCKTAIL
Thursday, 14 May 2026
Hodinkee - which I can’t escape feeling has lost some of its interest in JLC since the 2017 Master Control Sector Dial - published a hands on article about the Reverso Or Deco Cocktail that was visible at the Met Gala.
Some agreeable observations about the merits of this watch and of debuting these at the wrist of celebrities at the MET Gala. The choice of Tyriq Withers and Finn Wolfhard worked pretty well and the move allowed JLC to get a bit of press ahead of a more official launch in Miami on May 21. Well played.
The Milanese loop that garnered so much praise on last year’s rose gold model looks stunning in white gold and the finely texture white dial looks like a great pairing to create interest in close-up shots. It’s nice to see that JLC knows when it has a hit on its hands, and is not afraid of following through with further models like these elegant variations.
Mark Kauzlarich makes an interesting comment on the ‘cocktail’ denomination and how this concept brings to his mind 1920s gem extravaganza the likes of the gorgeous Reverso Secret Necklace. I see his point but tend to not always interpret marketing twist to litterally, and like that JLC kept it straightforward. What remains impressive is JLC’s ability to launch these novelties - along with the Reverso pop up exhibition in Miami - barely weeks after the avalanche of novelties (including Reversos that must have kept the gem-setting team busy) at Watches and Wonders.
W&W 2026 might have been a Master Control year, but Jérôme Lambert looks like he’s not forgetting the Reverso and is set on continuing to launch novelties at a mind-numbing pace.
Comparing the Merits of the New High Precision GuaranteeHallmark With the 1,000 Hour Control Certification
Friday, 8 May 2026
Getting the precision of your watches certified can be a great way to reassure your prospective buyers that they’re making the right choice with your product. Many brands, at certain points of their history, have made a point of getting part or all of their production certified like Rolex in the mid century or Breitling in 1999.
There are basically two ways to pursue certification : use a well established program that is recognized as the reference on the market, or create your own “even better than the rest of the market” certification program. The advantage of the former approach is that you’re using a known brand that’s recognizable by all, giving immediate visibility and prestige to your watches. That’s what the Chronometer certification Swiss manufacturers can obtain from COSC offers. The benefit of the later approach on the other hand is your total control of the testing bench, and the possibility to design and promote it as even more stringent than other programs. It allows a shot at aiming for even more differentiation by using your own proprietary test.
JLC chose that later path in 1992 when it launched the 1000 hours control certification along with its modern day platform for round watches, the Master Control. The certification gave something to talk about and establish firmly in the landscape what was a new phase in JLC’s turnaround.
The 1000 hour control was presented at the time as a more thorough testing bench than “the standard test conducted over 15 days at the Neufchâtel Observatory”. JLC boasted: 1000 hours of testing in 6 positions, under various temperatures, while submitting the assembled watch (not just the caliber) to some harsh moves and under significant magnetic fields. And just to put a fine point on it, JLC explained that each watch passing the test received a gold seal on its caseback and the “Master controller” in charge of validating the final result get to appose their signature inside the case of the watch. In substance, the intent was to go above and beyond standard COSC certification - and let there be known to the entire market.
DUAL CERTIFICATION
Fast forward to Watches and Wonders 2026, JLC is following the same playbook while launching the Master Chronometer - except this time, the manufacture is going with COSC testing. Quite the reversal! The benefit is obvious: JLC can call the new collection the Master Control Chronometer, setting it immediately appart from the rest of the Master Control family and giving a clear concept to the watches. But rather than leave it at that and risk the change being perceived as a downgrade, JLC went for a dual certification, reviving its High Precision Guarantee (HPG) hallmark (1). This led some commenters to wonder if this certification is better - or lesser - than the 1,000 hour control test bench it is replacing.
JLC explains this approach under the header “A renewed commitment to precision and reliability in watchmaking”, introducing at length the new HPG in those terms :
The HPG hallmark is based on a comprehensive assessment, during which each watch is subjected to demanding conditions designed to replicate the rigours of everyday life. Our patent-pending protocol allows performance to be assessed on the basis of four key factors:
Altitude: The calibre is tested under a variety of atmospheric pressures simulating conditions ranging from sea level up to 1,004 metres, the altitude of our Manufacture.
On
Multidirectional Impacts: In its case, the watch is subjected to shocks ranging from 25G to 50G, applied systematically across standardised positions, to ensure durability in everyday use.
Positions: The movement, once fitted into the case, is assessed through alternating periods of multi-position and fixed-position testing, examining its accuracy in every possible orientation.
Temperature: The performance of the watch is analysed under significant temperature fluctuations, ranging from 18°C (simulating a period of rest) to 35°C (representative of periods of activity), ensuring its reliability in a variety of environments
COSC certification is also mentioned in passing:
Each Master Control Chronometre, in addition to bearing the HPG hallmark, also holds the renowned COSC certification for chronometric precision. This dual certification highlights our dedication to high precision, a key factor when it comes to bearing the title of “Chronometer”.
Last and maybe in an uncommon move, JLC also adds a criteria relating to the sophistication of its finishing:
The HPG label also aims to be a benchmark for decorative excellence. It indicates that every component of the calibre has been meticulously finished using eight traditional techniques: circular graining, Côtes de Genève, circular smoothing, burnishing, polishing of screw heads, linear smoothing, sinked rubies and bevelling. Drawing inspiration from the legacy of Antoine LeCoultre, we seek to transform functional craftsmanship into a high-quality artistic expression, where even circular graining, once purely utilitarian, can become a sophisticated aesthetic signature.
JLC’s explicative page does not make any comparison with the 1,000 hour control program.
BEZOS NUMBERS
With this approach, JLC is trying to get the best of both worlds: we’re introduced to a new in-house certification that tries to closely mimic real-life conditions above and beyond the 1,000 programme or COSC certification but at the same time, the manufacture is happy to get along with COSC if just to be able to appose the Chronometer label on the collection. I can’t and won’t fault JLC for trying to breathe a bit of fresh air on a strategy that has been in place for a solid 24 years. Adding an aesthetics dimension to the in-house certification is a nice little touch - after all there’s value in finishing techniques and in this day and age, every little bit helps justifying why a client should pick one watch over another in a given price bracket. It’s a little hard though to say if HPG is just formalizing existing practices (some of which may not otherwise get noticed by prospective buyers) or if HPG is truly adding anything new to the way JLC is currently finishing its calibers.
Somme commenters, noting that the testing for HPG now takes place over 3 days of testing rather than several weeks, seem to assume this makes the whole bench less demanding than the 1,000 hour program and is meant as a way to save on costs. Maybe there’s an economical consideration with the new bench - but on the other hand, why not shorten the whole enterprise if the same result can be achieve in a shorter amount on time? I’m not privy to how many watches JLC has in testing at any one point in time, but I can certainly imagine that reducing the time a watch has to be held in testing from a couple of weeks down to a few days can significantly facilitate the life of the operations department. There’s no harm in that, save maybe for losing the appealingly simple “1,000 hour control” denomination.
The challenge with trying to pitt the new program against the hold is that in both cases, JLC is giving us “Bezos numbers” - measures that sound impressive on their face but are not telling us all that much in actuality. In tech circles, Jeff Bezos has become famous for using impressive numbers in his presentation (e.g. “our market share has tripled in the past 12 month!”, “this is our biggest growth month ever!”) without providing key context (trippling a 1% market share isn’t exactly the same as tripping a 10% one!). For all the useful details shared about the 1,000 hour program or the HPG certification, JLC has never (to my knowledge) disclosed the tolerance a watch must reach to be certified. This makes any comparison (on precision alone at least) ultimately moot. COSC, by comparison, doesn’t shy away from publishing how many seconds per day a certified chronometer is allowed to have.
1992 ALL OVER AGAIN
Does it ultimately really matter? Probably not. People don’t buy mechanical or luxury watches for their precision. While boasting excellent precision is one way to distinguish oneself from the competition, these certifications’s primary benefit is that they help tell a story about the product, if not the brand: “we do high quality watches, you can trust our expertise”. Whether a watch is able to work within -4/+6 or -2/+4 seconds per day is a discussion that will interest the purists, but not the general public - the very group of people that can make or break the financial fortunes of a watchmaker. These feeds and speeds don’t matter to the market any more than the clock speed of a mobile phone’s chip in the mobile phone world..
In the case of JLC, I think the strategy being followed makes a ton of sense - just like the playbook did in 1992.
If you’re going to launch a new collection of watches, having a story to tell (and sell it in the name itself) is good product marketing. When JLC launched the Master Control in 1992, it was establishing its brand new round watch platform and needed something to make it stand out from its aging offering and the general competition. The Master Control was different from the Odysseus, Gentilhomme, Heraïon and Kryos of the day (heck, even different from the more recent Grand Reveil and Geographic) - and that difference was right in the name and in the accompanying 1000 hour control certification.
24 years later, Jerome Lambert is turning to the same playbook, with a twist: the new collection wears its difference right in the name (and this requires using COSC certification) but JLC still wants to communicate its superior manufacturing heritage and is doing so with a new in-house certification programme. I think that’s a smart way to give the new collection a chance to get noticed at launch, while also continuing to honor the core attributes of the Maison as one of the few able to do everything in house. JLC’s motto and reason for existing, all the way to its first family-owned decades, has always been “la montre de qualité”. This dual certification is the latest embodiment of that very idea.
Back in 1992 the manufacture was still in the middle of its turnaround, and the Master Control collection started with one caliber (cal. 889/1) and a grand total of one model (2). Even the contemporary Master Date (notice the subtle difference in name) didn’t start as a Master Control. Within a few years though, other round watches were either abandoned or moved into the Master Control Family (like the geographic, which launched 2 years before the Master Control, or the Gentilhomme reserve de Marche). JLC is in a much healthier position in 2026 and has launched the the Master Chronometer with 3 models (two of them in two metals). It’s unclear for now if this announces a future move of the entire Master Control catalogue into the Master Chronometer name and collection, or if JLC intends to keep its integrated bracelet models a thing of their own. I don’t see it as impossible - a Master Chronometer Geographic (if the caliber can be thinned out enough) would be fun, and a return of the Reserve de Marche in the Master Control catalogue could be imagined (and we already know that the relevant caliber can fit a 9.8mm case!). The good news with the COSC/HPG move is that beyond the performance standards it’s setting, it signals fresh winds at JLC and that can only be good news for la LeCoultre.
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1: like many other firms, JLC likes to recycle existing brands into completely different things depending on the era. The HPG name was previously used the 70s to signal watches judged particularly precise thanks to a high beat calibre cadenced at 4Hz - a technical achievement for the time.
2: Master Control was launched as ref. 140.840.892 (A) for the stainless steel, leather band flagship version. It came in 5 variations: 3 different metal (stainless steel, yellow gold, rose gold) with the stainless steel and yellow gold models available in a rice bracelet variant.
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The Master Control Chronomètre Collection
Tuesday, 22 April 2026
If there’s one kind of watch that has exploded in popularity in the past 10 years, it has to be the integrated bracelet sport watch. Both Patek and Audermars have been doing superbly well since the 2010s in no small part thanks to the Nautilus and the Royal Oak - the later becoming somewhat ubiquitous in well-off circles looking for a watch that says “affluent but chill” (hello James Corden). Some brands took notice and came out with their own version - Baume & Mercier reviving the Riviera in 2021, IWC relaunching its Ingénieur in 2023, or even Rolex with its much-acclaimed Land Dweller a year ago.
JLC, all this time, seemed uninterested in this trend, preferring to revive the Polaris or refreshing the Master Control and the Master Ultra Thin ranges. The manufacture did add a metal bracelet to a couple of Master Control models and 3 Polaris references but the end result decidedly felt more tool watch than anything else (more akin to a Seamaster Diver 300M than a Chopard Alpine Aigle).
JLC seemed uninterested, that is, until this week at Watches and Wonder 2026.
A NEW LINE-UP IN THE MASTER CONTROL RANGE
LeCoultre announced a new family of watches called Master Control Chronometer. The new models are an extension of the existing Master Control range rather than their own stand-alone range like Master Ultra Thin. Three watches make the initial line up: a date model, a power reserve model and a perpetual calendar. They are available primarily in stainless steel, with two models (the date and the perpetual calendar) also available in rose gold. The idea seems to have been to test the waters with three models covering the starting point, mid-point and top-end of an entire groupe of watches.
Other sites will cover better than me the feed and speeds of these watches so I won’t spend excessive time on the minute details of these new design, which seem to simultaneously borrow from the Master Control and the Ultra Thin ranges while offering a personality of their own. On the whole, these models strike as elegant and modern. The bracelet - a brand new design - looks refined and certainly not bulky, ideally matching the thinness of the cases. The grey-blue color of the sunburst dial (for the stainless steel models) looks both familiar (borrowed from Ultra Thin ref Q1238480) and dashing, and the thinness of the models, equivalent to the MUT range rather than Master Control models, (8.4mm for the date model, 9.2mm for the power reserve and the perpetual calendar) really contribute to a sharp watch. We’re in a totally different space than with the other metal bracelet models currently offered with the Master Control Calendar ref. Q4148120 (10.95mm of thickness for the case), the Master Control Chronograph Calendar ref. Q4138130 (12.05mm) or the Polaris range (11.97mm at best). JLC went for something much more sophisticated and urban compared to what they currently offer with their other round watches, in my opinion to great effect .
FAMILIAR YET WITH ITS OWN PERSONALITY
What striked me both in visuals published online and while trying some of the models on the day they were released is how they feel fresh in the JLC catalogue even if they draw from existing elements of the brand. That’s most obvious with the date model, which at first brush looks identical to the current Master Control Date save for the new face color (itself lifted from the MUT date ref Q1238480). And yet, looking a little closer, JLC have revisited a number of details: the watch is 38mm (right between the standard 40mm and the more recent 38mm limited edition), a second track was has been added around dial, and the hands (while remaining the Dauphine kind as has the been case since the launch of the Master Control range in 1992) have been subtly redesigned to match the general thinness of the design. The end result is immediately familiar yet made fresh again and gently elevated. The same applies at the top of the range with the perpetual calendar - while the complication is immediately recognizable and uses a variation of the caliber 868 found in the other in other perpetual calendar of the brand, the use of the sub dial and window disposition found on the Polaris Perpetual Calendar on a smaller case and with the grey-blue dial of the Ultra Thin range make for something familiar yet fresh again.
It’s interesting JLC chose to start the range with three models: a time and date at the entry point, a perpetual calendar at the top end, and somewhere in the middle a simple power reserve that does not exist anywhere else (the Polaris range has a similar “middle of the range, two sub-dials only” model but it’s a chronograph complication). That allows JLC to offer a range of models from the get-go rather than a single model without over-extending itself with too many models to design and produce - a strategy similar to what was done in 2018 with the “new”Polaris range. Another advantage is that it leaves space in the catalogue for the two Master Control models with a metal bracelet to continue to exist. I was almost expecting a Master Control Geographic to be the “middle point” model as its such an idiosyncratic model to the brand, but maybe the relevant caliber was too complex or too costly to fit in a slim case, or maybe the complication hasn’t proven sufficiently popular in the Polaris range to justify its inclusion at launch. Regardless of these considerations, the end result is a focused line-up that feels like a welcome addition to the Master Control range - capturing some of the elegance of Master Ultra Thin models while bringing a breeze of fresh air to the Master Control family.
PRICES
Pricewise, the new models sit clearly a notch above the other round stainless watches of the manufacture. The Master Control date, available currently in 36 and 40mm in stainless steel, cost 7,600 and 8,800 CHF respectively: Its chronometer sibling in 38mm retails for 12,100 CHF. That’s a cool 37% difference from the standard 40mm model (and JLC tend to price larger models of a similar watch at a higher price point). The Power Reserve model is offered at 14,600 CHF, which represents a 58% increase compared to its Ultra Thin equivalent available for 9,200 CHF. The increase over the chronometer date is reasonable (+2,600 CHF), but this places the model almost at the same level as the Master Control Calendar (15,300 CHF on a steel bracelet), an arguably more complicated watch. The Perpetual Calendar is offered at 39,100 CHF - a 5,200 CHF uptick compared with the Polaris Perpetual Calendar on a steel bracelet (34,300 CHF). Clearly JLC didn’t design these watches to be priced on par with other existing models, let alone the rest of the Master Control range. These watches are, compared to their peers in the JLC catalogue, markedly more costly.
I enquired about this difference at a boutique, and the associate kindly explained to me that although on paper these watches might seem similar to other existing models, these watches are actually a technological step up, and that comes with additional cost. The calibers used in the date model and the perpetual calendars (cal 899 and 868 respectively) exist in other models but hold different internal serial numbers and have been further enhanced to use fewer components and reach the chronometer certification. The cases, although with similar dimension to the Ultra Thing family, are actual a new design that accentuates the thinness of the chronometers. And there is of course the additional cost of a metal bracelet compared to watches on a leather band or a rubber band. For comparison, adding a metal bracelet to a Polaris models adds about 800 CHF to the cost and adding one to a Master Control adds 1400 CHF. to the price of a leather or rubber band model. The nez bracelet for the chronometer models is more complex to build and comes with a seasonal adjustment mechanism that does not exist on the Master Control models: All this add up to the cost; even if it’s also possible that JLC might have taken a look at the completion from IWC, Chopard and other before landing on the current price tags: One thing that is for sure is JLC has been quite ambitious technologically when designing these new designs from the ground up (rather than use existing component as is), and this unavoidably gets reflected into final price tag.
CONCLUSION
Judging by the buzz on social media and in the watch world, these models seem to have landed well with the press and the community. There seems to be real enthusiasm for this fresh addition to the JLC round watch line-up, a deliveries being already reportedly pushed back to October seem to confirm this good reception: That’s a welcome sign that Jerôme Lambert has a lot of ambition for the brand and came back with a real sense of urgency: I have not been able to obtain firm confirmation, but it seems these models have been Lambert’s project rather than something initiated by his predecessor. If that’s indeed the case (and there are certainly signs of a very quick-paced development, with exhibition models shown at Watches & Wonders with no adjustment mechanism on the bracelet), it’s very impressive to see new management come up with a new family of watch all within a year. For comparison (although admittedly in another era), the first Master Compressor models designed by Magali Metrailler took about two years to develop in the early 2000s. One can only imagine the kind of pressure the current design and fabrication teams must have been under to get the three models ready for Watches and Wonder 2026, but the result was certainly well worth the hard work:
JEROME LAMBERT SPEAKS WITH LE TEMPS
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Suisse Romande (think the west third of Switzerland that speaks French) daily newspaper Le Temps published on March 15 an interview with Jérôme Lambert: The interview is in French and unfortunately behind a paywall and a translation with Google Translate or other equivalent services allows getting the gist of it.
No spectacular announcement just a few weeks ahead of Watches and Wonders obviously, but it’s still interesting to see what Lambert has to say about year after his return at the helm of a house he knows intimately.
Two interesting tidbits for me. First: the manufacture seems to be doing well, with everyone working full-time in 2026 once again after some periods in 2024 and 2025 were the company had to reduce the working hours of some of its employees (and their remuneration as a result) to adapt to the reduced demand: This practice is legal (‘Reduction d’Horaire de Travail’ is the official name of the rule) and used in industrial sectors where activity can be cyclical but firing and re-hiring later on qualified workers would pose immense issues in terms of acquired knowledge and time wasted integrating the new recruits: We also learn that the manufacture employs just short of 1,000 people, which combined with those working in marketing and support functions in Meyrin on the Richemont campus is equivalent to the peak of 1,300 employees measured about 15 years ago.
The other interesting part of the interview is that according to Lambert, the correct segmentation of the market is no longer by geography, age or gender but by “affinity”.
If it is a question of analysing the clientele by gender and by generation, it does not seem very new?
This reading is no longer relevant. The culture of affinity is a transversal phenomenon. These are no longer sociological categories or geographical origins, but ways of experiencing watchmaking and maintaining a relationship with the watch.
(…) For a long time, watches were mostly designed according to Western aesthetic references. After the 2008 financial crisis and the fall of Lehman Brothers, market momentum gradually shifted to Asia, resulting in a more marked interest in classic models. Today, we are observing a new evolution, which could be described as "re-urbanisation" of watchmaking: a more knowledgeable, more urban clientele, and particularly attentive to the notions of wear, style and identity..
Lambert goes on to explain that the market is not as homogenous as it used to be and is now much more fragmented, comparing it to a kaleidoscope. Evoking the US market as an example, he no longer sees the territory as a monolithic market but rather as a “multitude of sub-markets”. The good this is that he’s cautious enough to know that the Manufacture can’t pursue every opportunity in the market, and name-checks the successful Reverso Tribute Monoface “Or déco” as an example of the Maison taking creative approach to one of its most classic and respected canvas.