PRE-SIHH: The JLC Master Calendar with Meteorite dial.

Felix Scholz

Jaeger-LeCoultre are known for their mastery of understated, classical dials and beautifully designed movements. The Master Calendar, released in this current version in 2013 is the epitome of JLC’s sober, restrained and stylish Master collection.

At SIHH 2015 JLC will be injecting some flair into the Master Calendar with a dial that is (and this pun is unavoidable), out of this world.

The Master Calendar is being released in two new references (Q1552540 – in pink gold and Q1558421 -in steel) 
with stunning meteorite dials. Now in the world of watch marketing you could be forgiven for thinking meteorite is a euphemism for some sort of proprietary technology, but no – it’s a dial made of actual meteorite. Turns out JLC went and bought a chunk of space rock (from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter). Then JLC spent many hours slicing, finishing and generally ensuring that this iron rich chunk of stone meets quality control standards.

The result is a pretty surprising and stunning watch. Usually exotic substances like this are the purview (a few notable Omega’s excepted) of brands that make ‘statement’ pieces (we’re looking at you, Romain Jerome), and if you’d ask us if we thought a meteorite dial would work on the Master Calendar we probably would have said no, but turns out the result is dead set stunning, the rich textures of the meteorite add depth and interest to the watch, without overpowering it. And we can’t decide if we like the contrast between the pink gold and grey dial or the monochrome effect of the steel. This is one watch that will need to be seen in person.

Oh and interesting the press release doesn’t indicate that this is a limited edition, or boutique only watch – which one would expect with such an exotic dial. But who knows, maybe JLC bought a very big chunk of meteorite. More on the JLC Master Calendar with Meteorite dial as we hear it.