Jaeger - Le Coultre For many watch collectors there can be no other. Today it remains as the only watch manufacturer to make every single part of their movements, without exception, in house. Antoine Le Coultre, founded his watch company in 1833, in Le Sentier Switzerland. But much credit must be given to descendants such as Pierre Le Coultre whose mechanical ingenuity soon established himself and his family's reputation as master craftsman. They started out with razors but soon were producing unusual music boxes, magnificent keyboards and finally watch components. But their chronicle truly begins in Le Sentier in 1833. It was then that the company created the first of a succession of watchmaking sensations that would take its name to the furthest corners of the globe. 1833: Antoine Le Coultre establishes his watch "factory" or "workshop". It is here where all the company's cases and movements are still made by hand. 1844: Antoine Le Coultre invents the millionometer enabling the world to make measurements exact to a thousandth of a millimeter. 1847: Le Coultre presents the world's first movement with a crown winding mechanism. This signals the demise of the key wound watch. 1903: Le Coultre achieves its dream of making the slimmest watch movement in the world. This mechanical miracle is only 1.38 mm thick, while even the much more complicated chronograph is only 2.88 mm thick. 1926: Le Coultre develops the Duoplan, a watch whose accuracy is way ahead of its time. 1928: An engineer at Le Coultre by the name of J. L. Reutter devises the first Atmos clock. This table clock does away with the need for winding - it derives all its power from minute fluctuations in room temperature. 1929: Le Coultre enters the record books with the smallest watch movement of all time. It measures 14 x 4.8 x 3.4 mm and weighs less than a gram. 1931: Le Coultre unveils the Reverso. A classic from the beginning the Reverso has a rotating mechanism which allows the watch to be rotated 180 degrees protecting the crystal and dial from damage. It was one of the first watches to be equipped with built in shock resistance. 1953: Jaeger - Le Coultre makes history when it unveils the Futurematic. The world's first fully automatic watch without a winding crown. 1956: Jaeger - Le Coultre adds to their long list of accomplishments when they introduce the Memovox, the first wristwatch to feature an alarm. From the standpoint of technical design and production Jaeger - Le Coultre relies on the best and most dependable craftsman and machines available, their own. Aware of this fact, many of their better known competitors use movements manufactured by Jaeger - Le Coultre in their own models. This was stolen from the Web site located at http://www.xmission.com/~wwwads/heritage/coultre.html A service from, E-mail address: z4murray@webcom.com Mike Murray Listowner for Clockers A specialist in Atmos and 400-day clock repair. In continuous service since 04/01/1982. Mike's Clock Clinic Memberships: AWI # 17851; NAWCC # 074021 1326 Stanford Street Santa Monica, California 90404-2502 Fax: 310-828-7381 My Web site is located at http://www.webcom.com/z4murray/ Main FTP site is located at ftp.netcom.com/pub/mi/mikem Clockers sign-up/off is now as automated as its going to be at http://www.webcom.com/z4murray/mailing.html Copyright 1996 Michael P. Murray