Visiting a watchmaking factory is a dream for all watch lovers—but having the watchmaking factory come and visit you, well, now that really is a fantasy. The latter is what happened last month when the luxury Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre brought its Precision Pioneer exhibition to Dubai between May 7 and 19.
The richly immersive experience was the talk of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), as Dubai residents were the first international audience to witness the globe-spanning exhibition, following its debut at the recent Watches & Wonders fair in Geneva in April.
The heart of the exhibition is the story of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s pursuit of precision, which has been a central tenet of the Maison since it was founded in 1833. For its founder, Antoine LeCoultre, the pursuit of precision was something of an obsession. His watchmaking atelier quickly built a reputation for outstanding quality and, as LeCoultre & Cie grew into a fully-fledged Manufacture, it set the standard for the entire industry. From the mid-1800s onwards, as its calibres were sought after by many of Switzerland’s greatest watchmaking houses for use in their own timepieces, the Maison became known as the ‘Watchmaker of Watchmakers’.
Through the exhibition’s four major themes—The Precision of Production and Decoration; The Precision of Chronometry; The Precision of Regulating Organs; and The Precision of Complications—visitors were able to dive into the world (and history) of one of the most storied brands in watchmaking via a series of workshops, talks and live demonstrations.
And, for the watch lovers, the displaying of historic timepieces and archive materials, the key pieces from Watches & Wonders, and the launch of a new limited-edition timepiece: the Master Grande Tradition Calibre 948—made sure that the watchmaking dream come true.