From April 23rd to 26th 2013, Jaeger-LeCoultre is delighted to be organising its fifth online ‘Tides of Time’ auction dedicated to preserving the world heritage marine sites. This year, the Manufacture is offering a one-of-a-kind model inspired by the 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Deep Sea: prototype N°1 of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet. 

An auction to help safeguard world heritage marine sites 

The entire proceeds will be donated to one of the 46 marine sites on the UNESCO world heritage list: the Fernando de Noronha and Atol des Rocas nature reserves. Located amid the Brazilian Atlantic islands, the Fernando de Noronha reserve hosts the largest concentration of tropical seabirds of the West Atlantic. Its fertile waters also offer extremely important breeding grounds and sources of sustenance for tuna fish, sharks, turtles and sea mammals. 

In May 2013, in partnership with UNESCO and the International Herald Tribune, Jaeger-LeCoultre will organise a diving trip to this site in order to discover the importance of providing effective protection for these exceptional natural riches, as well as the difficulties involved in preserving them. One of the divers will explore the waters of the Reserve with a Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet on his wrist. 

Since 2008, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been pursuing its involvement with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the International Herald Tribune through the Tides of Time partnership in order to support the endangered sites. The auction provides an opportunity for collectors and devotees of fine watchmaking to support this cause alongside these institutions. 

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet diver’s watch 

Powered by Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 758, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet watch is a direct descendant of the famous 1959 Memovox Deep Sea, the first automatic diver’s watch equipped with an alarm that had called for the full inventive force of the Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmakers. 

In 2013, the icon gets a makeover with a brand-new case in reinforced Cermet. Composed of an aluminium matrix reinforced by ceramic particles and then covered with a 40 micron-thick protective ceramic coating, this 44 mm case is more resistant to shocks and pressure than pure ceramics, and is also surprisingly light – assets that divers are sure to appreciate. 

This diver’s watch with its 65-hour power reserve is inspired by an historical Jaeger-LeCoultre achievement: the Chronoflight device invented in the 1930s. On the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet diver’s watch, a chronograph operating indicator composed of two (red and white) discs serves to enhance diver’s safety by providing them with at-a-glance readings of the state of the chronograph: i.e. whether it is on, off or reset to zero.