Cars & motorsport
Jaeger-LeCoultre and Aston Martin: innovative traditions – part 3
The year 2010 marked the 5th anniversary of the legendary partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre and British sports car maker Aston. Universal time thus went back-to-basics and returned to car racing.
By Rémy Solnon
Specialised journalist
On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the partnership (you can reread parts 1 and 2 of this series here), the AMVOX5 World Chronograph, followed in the footsteps of previous series with the introduction of an exclusive complication to the collection. It was a world time function that tells the time in all time zones around the world simultaneously.
2010, the Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX5 World Chronograph
The familiar dial features a two-tone 24-hour graduated ring fixed with a flange inscribed with the names of the cities representing the 24 time zones. The special feature of the piece was that London was replaced by Gaydon, the village where the British car maker is established.
The inner ring can be set thanks to a second crown at 10 o'clock. The 44-mm ceramic case was combined with titanium (Q192T400 – 300-piece edition) or pink gold (Q192T430 – 200 pieces). It was equipped with a Jaeger LeCoultre 752 caliber that comprised a column wheel and a variable inertia balance. The rotor housed a ceramic ball-bearing which served to increase the movement's reliability and accuracy.
The AMVOX5 World Chronograph was launched on a leg of the Le Mans Series championship at circuit Paul Ricard. The British team’s drivers wore it on their wrist to test it in racing conditions. Two other exclusive Racing versions were also released on the same occasion to pay tribute to the Aston Martin Racing team's success in endurance racing with the LMP1 prototype and in the championship with the V12 Vantage. Produced in editions of 100 pieces each, the watches stood out thanks to the black and orange world time disk on the white dial version, and to the black and white disk on the black dial version. They were equipped with a ceramic and titanium case and featured carbon fiber small counters.
The AMVOX5 World Chronograph LMP1, launched in 2011, was an ode to its racing origins. Issued in 250 ceramic pieces (ref. Q193J480), it was introduced in a radically sporty fashion and it featured the same blue and orange of the LMP1 prototype both on the dial and on the black and Cordura calfskin strap.
The AMVOX5 World Chronograph in short:
Year: 2010 // Case: 44 mm X 15.10 mm, ceramic and titanium / ceramic and 18K pink gold, water resistant to 50 m // Caliber: self-winding Jaeger-Lecoultre 752, 28,800 vph frequency, 41 rubies, 65-hour power reserve // Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph, date, world time.
2012, the Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX7 Chronograph
In 2012, Jaeger-LeCoultre announced the arrival of the AMVOX7 Chronograph. This version's special feature was its new, more ergonomic case and its dial, which displayed the pattern of the radiator grille of the Aston Martin Vanquish – the last super-sports car made by the manufacturer etsablished in Gaydon.
Once more, the new series presented a watchmaking innovation – a radial power reserve display. The function was seen through the two apertures on either side of 12 o'clock between 10 and 12 o'clock and 12 and 2 o'clock. When the watch was wound to its maximum capacity, both apertures were red and when the two red zones moved away from 12 o'clock, it indicated a decrease in power reserve. As far as functionalities go, it was intuitive, just like the vertical release chronograph function the AMVOX7 also included. Said function allowed to determine at a glance whether the watch needed to be wound.
The AMVOX case was completely redesigned to provide maximum comfort on the wrist. Made in titanium, it was enhanced by polished, shot-blasted and satiny finishes. The new case housed the (also new) in-house self-winding Jaeger-LeCoultre 756 caliber. The hour and minute disk counters were redesigned with red lacquered markers. The watch was delivered with two interchangeable straps in steel and black calfskin.
The AMVOX7 Chronograph in short:
Year: 2012 // Case: 44 mm X 15.64 mm, grade 5 titanium, water resistant to 50 m
Caliber: self-winding Jaeger-Lecoultre 756, 28,800 vph frequency, 39 rubies, 65-hour power reserve //
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph, date, radial power reserve.
Ref.: 194 T4 70
2007, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Vantage
Finally, let’s not forget that in 2007 Jaeger-LeCoultre produced a special series of its iconic Reverso –not included in the AMVOX collection – to pay tribute to the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster. The Reverso Vantage by Jaeger-LeCoultre for Aston Martin was available in two versions: The Reverso Vantage Grande Automatique for men (ref Q303847A) and the Reverso Vantage GT for women (ref. Q270847A). Both feature engraved casebacks with the red silhouette of the roadster, black guilloché dials enhanced by a red 8 in reference to the powerful V8 and red and black alligator straps. The women’s version was driven by a hand-wound JLC 822 caliber that displayed hours and minutes. The men’s model was driven by the automatic Jaeger-Lecoultre 970 caliber and featured more functions such as a large date, a second time zone and a day/night indicator. The latter displayed Aston Martin’s initials on a white background during the day and the front end of the V8 on a black background at night.
With a frequency of 21,600 (for the women’s version) and 28,800 (for the men's version) vibrations per hour, they provided a power reserve of 45 and 48 hours respectively.
The Reverso Vantage by Jaeger-LeCoultre for Aston Martin in short:
Year: 2007 // Case: 46.5x29.3 mm x 12.3 mm/42.2x26 mm X 9.4 mm, steel, water resistant to 30 m // Caliber: self-winding/manual Jaeger-LeCoultre 970 / 822, 28,800 / 21,600 vph frequency, 29 / 21 rubies, 48 and 45 hours of power reserve // Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, tourbillon, date, second time zone, AM/PM indication
A true collector's gallery
Each AMVOX series introduced different innovations, which means that all the pieces are authentic collectibles that are also rare as they were all produced in limited editions. Below is a summary of the complications and/or innovations of each AMVOX series:
- AMVOX1: alarm
- AMVOX2: vertical release chronograph
- AMVOX2 Transponder: remote control for Aston Martin’s cars
- AMVOX3: ceramic case, tourbillon, patented oscillating mass, GMT function
- AMVOX5: world time function
- AMVOX7: radial power reserve display
The pieces in the AMVOX collection are regularly sold secondhand. A steel AMVOX1, costs around €5,000, whilst the titanium version ranges between €6,000 to €7,000 and the platinum version exceeds €10,000. An AMVOX2 can be purchased for between €7,000 and €10,000 (titanium) whilst the price of the gold version can go beyond €15,000. The asking price for rare AMVOX3 pieces starts at some €75,000. The price of the AMVOX7 is between €10,000 and 15,000 while an AMVOX5 would cost more than €14,000.
https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/
Photos credit : Jaeger-LeCoultre/Aston Martin
Reread the first two articles of this saga: Part 1 and Part 2.
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