Amanico reviews the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar Guilloché Blue Enamel, a standout piece from SIHH 2019. This article delves into the aesthetic and technical merits of this special edition, which features a deeply treated guilloché and enameled dial, building upon the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar saga that began in 2013.
The Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar saga started not a long time ago, as the first ones came in 2013, followed in 2016 by the steel case black dialed version which is a star.
We had steel versions, rose gold, white gold, all over these last years, with different dials, but this year, the Master Ultra Thin received some deep and special treatment...
The Steel Silver grained dial :
The Steel Black:
First of all, the dial, of course, as it is the main interest of this version:
The dial, like for the MUT Moon and Tourbillon from this year, is guilloché, then enameled.
A picture I could take at the Manufacture:
You have certainly noticed that the Manufacture didn't go the easy way in the guilloché, since you have a kind of " soleillé " for the main dial contrasting with the hobnail of the day, date and month sub dials.
Take the watch in your hands, look at it under different angles, it is a feast for the eyes. The dial captures the light, plays with it, has different shades of blue, it is pure magic.
Another important detail, the moon phase and the months sub dials are reversed, the moon phase being at 6 o' clock now, and the months being at 12.
The sub dial of the month houses the indicator of the years, too, while it was located between 7 and 8 o' clock on the former versions.
There are two moon phases, one for each hemisphere, and the informations related to the age of the moon are laser engraved to give it some depth and relief.
I have been told that even the disc of the moon has been revisited, but I find it very close to what we recently saw...
The applied indices are totally new and more elegant, too with a much slimmer and longer shape, very short but doubled at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock.
The dial gains in symmetry, too, with a better balance, specially thanks to the indicator of the year which is now located in the months sub dial.
The white gold case has the same diameter, 39 mm, but is thicker, due to the presence of he enamel dial: 10, 44 mm versus 9, 2 mm in height. Still the proportions are beautiful, because Jaeger-Lecoultre reworked the profile a bit, and the lugs, to make them consistent, which is a good point.
It is still water resistant to 50 meters.
The movement received some changes. The Calibre 868 A/2 has been rotated to 180 degrees compared to the " normal " Cal 868, which explains how the months are at 12 and the moon phase at 6 o'clock, now.
The rotor didn't change since 2016.
But the most important detail is that the power reserve is much longer than before, with 70 hours, now, while on the other versions, it is circa 40 hours.
To obtain this improvement, the barrel has been redesigned, the spring is bigger as well as the spiral, new oils have been used and and new alloys have been chosen for the escapement.
To be complete, the price which is circa 55, 000 euros, which is quite consequent, and this version is limited to 100 pieces.
So you see, Jaeger-LeCoultre revisited the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual in-depth, not only cosmetically, but also mechanically, to obtain the most precious version...
Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts,
Best.
Nicolas
