Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX5 World Chronograph LMP1

[A watch based on and for the Aston Martin Racing team: the AMVOX LMP1]

Back in 2004 when Jaeger LeCoultre started the AMVOX line as a co-branding arrangement with Aston Martin Racing, the watches have concentrated on the relationship with the road cars: the cars the lucky few drive from their homes to wherever they need to go. The watches themselves have been innovative: in particular making use of a unique system for starting or stopping a chronograph (or the opening and closing of the doors of the car). It has been a fruitful partnership with Aston Martin. The links to the cars that are the inspiration behind the watch are numerous. For the DB9 the transponder was built as an integral part of the watch: truly watch and car were one.



[A super car based watch series: the AMVOX]

The association between Jaeger and Aston Martin has a longer history than the AMVOX series. It was Edmond Jaeger, diversifying into markets outside of horology and entering the production of precision instruments for the automobile industry. Jaeger speedometers were soon fitted in some of the most prestigious automobiles of the period, including Aston Martin racing cars. Success was just as swift as the racing cars around the race circuit. In 1920, LeCoultre and Jaeger exported over 20,000 counters to the United Kingdom. In 1921, Jacques-David LeCoultre and his Parisian partners at Jaeger founded a small workshop in London, Ed Jaeger London Ltd, which by 1925 specialized in automotive dashboard instruments. There was a small part of English sports cars, and in particular Aston Martin, that was forever Jaeger!

Getting an invite to go to Silverstone with the Aston Martin Racing team was an easy ‘yes’! This was something of a world exclusive for PuristsPro; the watch was flown in for review and to have the race team pass comment on the watch while I was there. I was invited to see the team, hang around in the pits and get a preview of the AMVOX LMP1 watch. I was honoured to be invited and the Aston Martin Racing team kept us royally entertained.





[The two cars being run by the Aston Martin Racing team: the LMP1and the GT4]

I had always been impressed with the endurance race cars that are generally faster than Formula 1 and the cars are required to endure racing conditions for hour upon hour, rather than simply be the first to cross the line. If you want to test something mechanical, where the mechanics are required to run without fault over a long time period, then better to test in an endurance competition. Aston Martin Racing was running two cars at Silverstone: the LMP1 Aston Martin Lola (that had considerable success last year) and a GT4 car that closely resembles the road version cars. The LMP1 car was not as competitive as the Aston Martin team would have hoped; the new car for the 2011 season was not quite ready and the developments have been fed through into the 2012 season.







[The Aston Martin LMP1 flies past the field]

Both Aston Martin and Jaeger LeCoultre are no strangers to the endurance competition arena. Just over 50 years ago Aston Martin (under the ownership of David Brown) had entered the endurance racing arena and eventually achieved the coveted victory at LeMans in 1959. With a change of ownership to Aston Martin in 2007 came a return to the track. Once again, Aston Martin was involved in the endurance racing cars championships, and in the first season saw victories for both the LMP1 class as well as the GT class. In the way it was always intended, what is learned from the track is then translated into the road car versions of the race car that carries the same name.



The parallels with Jaeger LeCoultre’s success are uncanny. Similarly about 50 years ago Jaeger manufactured the Jaeger 170 observatory tourbillon that swept all before it in the Observatory Competitions in the late 1940’s. Roll on about 60 or so years, and the Chronometry Competition held at the MIH and once again it is a Jaeger LeCoultre tourbillon that takes the plaudits and first prize. In much the same way, the lessons from the Observatory competition are then fed through into the production line watches and the Master Control 1000 hour tests are an embodiment of what was learned from the competition tests.





For the first time one of the AMVOX series is not only related to the Aston Martin marque, but is directly related to the race cars in terms of design, colouring, and materials. However, the AMVOX LMP1 World Chronograph Racing Limited Edition also has the added benefit of a watch with complications that are required of the racing drivers, engineers, mechanics, and management of the Aston Martin Racing team.



[The grill pattern on the LMP1 car can be seen on the dial of the AMVOX LMP1; the colour scheme is also clearly visible].



[The ceramic disk brake – left in the picture – is made of the same material as found in the casing of the AMVOX LMP1].

First, the watch materials are drawn directly from the materials used on the cars. The ceramic used for the watch case is the same hardened material used for the disk brakes on the LMP1 car. The titanium structure for the crash cage, the grill pattern for the lattice work on the dial, the colouring scheme is all too obvious now that the Aston Martin Racing team is racing in the Gulf livery that was made so famous in the 1970’s. Coupled with endurance car racing series requirements of six races across 3 continents in 2 months and the watch itself is tailor made for the Aston Martin Racing team. The movement is the same calibre 752 and the pushers are responsive and the stop watch starts the same instant.





[The depth of the dial: GMT has the Aston Martin wings above it].

The endurance racing cars now race in a series called the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. The race series is still run under the auspices of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (the club which instigated the original Le Mans race in 1923). The endurance races are held over a number of months on different circuits. The series of races are held in the four corners of the globe: the 12 Hours of Sebring (Sebring, United States, March) before moving onto Europe to contest a six hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in May, the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Le Mans, France, June), and another 6 hour race at the Imola circuit in Italy in July. The 6 Hours at Silverstone (Silverstone, United Kingdom, September), the Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta, United States, October) and the season finale will be held in China at the Zhuhai circuit in November.





[On edge for 6 hours! The action in the pits].

I could not help think that perhaps Jaeger LeCoultre’s world-time/chronograph movement had found a more natural ‘home’ within the AMVOX series with the LMP1. Here was a watch clearly designed around the endurance racing team’s LMP1 car and needs. A watch that can provide the time in any one of 24 time zones, and provide a chronograph function when needed. And needed it is: from lap times, to timing the pit stops, to timing the pit stops themselves. Although there is a truck load (literally) of electronics that relay every conceivable statistic about the cars and the drivers back to the pits, there still a need for the individual watch to keep the race team members (drivers, mechanics, and engineers) with a personal and visual check on where the time.





[Drivers Harold Primat and Christian Klein wearing the watch].

The drivers (Christian Klein and Harold Primat) who reviewed the watch for me and modeled it at the Silverstone race were impressed and generally wanted to swap out their existing Jaeger LeCoultre AMVOX piece for the new one. No doubt that might happen in the near future, but on the day, with only one prototype available, they were out of luck. And with only 250 in the limited series, I am guessing that their luck won’t be changing in the future either!! The 250 are destined for dealers and the Jaeger Boutiques around the world.



For this addition to the AMVOX series, the link was through the use of materials and the design of the watch itself. The mixture of materials produces a watch that can be felt on the wrist, and the wrist weight lies somewhere in between titanium and steel. Because of the design of the lugs, I found the watch sat comfortably on the wrist and belied the 44mm diameter size. The AMVOX LMP1 watch is a great addition to the AMVOX line and one that I hope produces more innovative watches tied to the material and design of the Aston Martin Racing team for the future.

Andrew H

For Harriet. This message has been edited by 219 on 2011-10-12 12:33:48