Vintage & Auctions
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Latest The Collectibles Capsule Collection Pulls Focus to the Feminine
The fourth vintage capsule collection, inspired by the legendary reference book from the Le Sentier-based watchmaker, addresses the point that women’s watches hold just as iconic a position in timepiece history as any, as well as a warm place in the hearts of collectors.
By Mike Espindle
Executive Editor
Full disclosure: Jaeger-LeCoultre’s massive (over 550 pages) reference book The Collectibles holds an honored place in my personal watch library, so I am inclined to wax poetic about any project derived from that publication.
The tome exhaustively covers 17 of JLC’s most definitively iconic models, from the 1920s to the 1970s, from the Reverso to members of the Memovox line to the Shark Deep Sea and more.
The watchmaker has gone on to develop a series of thoroughly vetted collections of vintage watches derived from the book, meticulously passed through its exacting patrimony and authorization process, and worked over by its team of 10 restoration watchmakers, to offer to the buying public.
Ladies Night
This new fourth-in-the-program 2025 The Collectibles-inspired vintage collection, however, celebrates the maison’s 190-plus years of heritage with important 20th-century models in a new “capsule collection” of women’s timepieces, with 10 offerings of rare and desirable ladies’ models based on the Duoplan and Duoplan 101 calibers.
Fun Fact: Including the smallest mechanical watch movement ever made, measuring only 14mm x 4.8mm x 3.4mm, the Calibre 101, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Duoplan movement architecture celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2025.
Along with the recent publication of Watchonista stalwart Rhonda Riche’s The Wonderful World of Women’s Watches: Beauty Beyond Time and an increased interest in collecting women’s watches, it seems as though the scholarly and historical significance of ladies’ watches is, at last, getting its appropriate moment in the sun.
Collection Highlights
The collection will be introduced next month in Paris (also the hometown of co-founder Edmond Jaeger) and ranges from classic diamond-set Art Deco cocktail watches to more envelope-pushing designs from the mid-century.
A circa-1950 Duoplan Tubogas secret watch, crafted in 18k yellow gold, leads the collection highlights, accompanied by a 1941-vintage Duoplan Chaine timepiece on a bold yellow gold bracelet.
Meanwhile, to demonstrate how watch design tastes have evolved over time, the collection also includes a 1960 High Jewelry secret watch in dazzling white gold, featuring diamonds and sapphires set in a rivière style based on the small Duoplan Calibre 101.
Most impressively, another notable member of this new The Collectibles-inspired capsule is a rare 1939 example from the Duoplan Tuile collection, featuring a dramatic convex glass case offset at a 90-degree angle on the wrist. It bears the apt nickname “The Driver.”
A Night in Paris, Peut-être?
The collection launches on June 13th at the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique in Paris, located at 7 Place Vendôme, and will be displayed, along with The Collectibles book, until July 27th. The models can be purchased via the Jaeger-LeCoultre website after the initial debut and by personal appointment during the boutique’s launch period.
No pricing for this collection’s models was available at press time, but previous The Collectibles programs have featured restored vintage wristwatches in the $20,000 to $50,000 range.