Pre-SIHH 2019: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel

The SIHH 2019 is little less than a month away and we have already seen fair share of new watch announcements. In this article we will focus on one of the novelties from Jaeger-LeCoultre – the Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel (ref. Q13635E1). With its round shape and pure lines, the new Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel will appeal to many watch enthusiasts or devotees. Featuring an extremely thin case, this elegant dress watch celebrates the arts of guillochage and enameling – two rare handcrafts (“Métiers Rares”) which have been preserved for more than 180 years at the company’s manufacture in Le Sentier. When it comes to watchmaking, Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the few brands that do everything in-house. Not many watchmakers perform gem-setting, guillochage, enameling and engraving at their workshops – traditional techniques that require delicate and painstaking work that is typically executed by hand and with the assistance of machines which are often more than a hundred years old.

The watch showcases the expertise of the Jaeger-LeCoultre master watchmakers, artists and artisans

The most eye-catching feature of the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel is its beautiful guilloché enamel dial. Featuring an intense midnight blue hue, it perfectly complements the watch’s thin case and highlights the geometric motifs and the relief effect characteristic of guillochage. The dial features a hand guilloché sunray pattern with straight lines traced from its center. After decorating it with guilloche technique, the artisans then applied a blue, translucent enamel layer on its surface. The dial is composed of several parts that are then assembled together and welded to create the final result. This was very challenging for the brand’s artisans as the mainplate and the counter are independently decorated, and their motifs have to match each other perfectly.

After it was decorated with guilloche technique, the dial was then covered with a blue, translucent enamel layer

In addition to the hand-guilloché blue enamel dial, the Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel also features new hour-markers, a redesigned moon phase indicator, and a new engraved date counter. The applied white gold hour-markers are now longer and split into two at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. At 6 o’clock, the white moon phase disk is more polished than before and features a new stellar background. The date ring framing the moon phase indication is delicately engraved in order to shift focus to the 31 numerals raised in relief against that background.

Other redesigned elements include new hour-markers, a redesigned moon phase indicator, and a new engraved date counter

Elegant and stylish, the new Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel showcases the expertise of the Jaeger-LeCoultre master watchmakers and artisans. The watch is housed in a 39mm white gold case. The latter is water resistant to 30 meters and features a transparent case back. Visible through the sapphire back is the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 925. Featuring 30 jewels, this self-winding movement beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a power reserve of 70 hours – a significant improvement compared to the movements found in previous Master Ultra Thin watches. Completing the latest Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece is a stylish blue alligator leather strap with white gold pin buckle. The Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel is issued in a limited edition of 100 pieces.

The timepiece is only 10.04 mm thick