Jaeger-LeCoultre, which is being hailed as a 'hot' brand because of its avant-garde designs, boasts 10 new patents and seven new movements this year.
The company designs, develops and manufactures most of its own movements and movements for other watch houses, especially firms in the Richemont Group, of which it is a member.
For several years now, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been producing watches with a round-case design, partly to change the popular perception that the company is dedicated exclusively to its unique Reverso design.
(Incidentally, this year happens to be the 75th anniversary of the Reverso watch.)
Many of this year's offerings have already got collectors talking. In the Reverso line, for example, there is a new model, Eclipse, which contains a 'secret' enamel illustration in a Grande Reverso case. The wearer can conceal or reveal at will the enamel design. With one roll of a tiny wheel on the case, the curtains of this horological theatre part and disappear to reveal the miniature.
The enamel design comes in a variety of themes, including voyages of discovery, Chinese signs of the zodiac and famous nudes.
Another development in the Reverso collection is the Grande Complication a Triptyque, a unique piece with three dials, giving civil, sidereal and perpetual time. Some very subtle construction techniques have gone into the manually wound movement.
