Jaeger-LeCoultre expands its Rendez-Vous range with the addition of three new models: The Rendez-Vous Tourbillon, and 2 versions of the Rendez-Vous Celestial timepieces.

The Swiss manufacture’s Rendez-Vous collection has always been about the perfect marriage between fine matchmaking and high jewellery, showcasing its Rare Handcrafts Métiers Rares, with particular attention to guillochage, gem-setting, and the decorative arts. This series caters specifically with the classy and elegant woman in mind, and these 3 new additions are a reinterpretation of a number of the feminine functions that have been at the heart of the collection since the very beginning.

Mention Tourbillon and watch connoisseurs would tell you that it’s one of the most complex complications. Put together by the engineers and artisans of the Grande Maison, the Jaeger-LeCoutlre Calibre 978 tourbillon on this new Rendez-Vous Tourbillon is visible at 6 o’clock on the dial, with its hand-decorated gears that seem to be suspended in midair. Its balance wheel oscillating within the carriage to perform one revolution per minute, is what gives this timepiece its precision. Adorned with brilliant-cut diamonds on the bezel as well as on the dial, “framing” the tourbillon. A total of 215 hand-set diamonds require the painstaking effort of artisans from the Rare Handcrafts Métiers Rares ® workshop. This particular pink gold model also comes with mother-of-pearl in the centre of the dial.

Aptly called the “Celestial”, these two new interpretations of the central focal point of the Rendez-Vous Celestial are its “sky map” – a bezel set with either a graduated display of pink sapphires shifting into shades of amethyst for the version in “Rouge” (red), or brilliant-cut diamonds for the one in “Grise” (Grey) below. You’d also notice a golden star, which constantly moves around the dial. The dial, too, showcases the changing constellations and signs of the zodiac, enamelled in shades of silver or pink-gold; the enamelled floral numerals and twelve constellations on the dial require the work of the Rare Handcrafts Métiers Rares ® artisans. Modelled after the original collection first created in the Manufacture’s workshops in 2012, the Rendez-Vous celestial watches are fitted with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 809/1.

If you ask me which my favourite is, well, in terms of complications, I’ve always had a soft spot for tourbillons primarily due to my love for skeleton watches. In this particular instance, however, my pick out of these 3 new Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces right here, definitely has to be the Rendez-Vous Celestial  because of the, font-type of the enamelled floral numerals. I’d definitely opt for the version Grise because it’s chic, elegant, and yet not too flashy in comparison to its red counterpart.

Images courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre