Timekeeper paradisio

As the car comes to a halt having arrived from the plains of Geneva and stops in front of the humblelooking two-storied atelier, one is unable to miss the fluttering flags-Swiss, Indian, the US and the local one belonging to Canton de Vaud-stroked by the cool breeze of the Alps on a bright sunny day of April.

We are guests at Jaeger-LeCoultre's Manufacture, located in the scenic Vallee de Joux in the village of Le Sentier. Ushered into the glass-lined office, situated at an altitude of 1000m, in the heart of the Jura mountains, we are greeted with "Bon Jour Monsieur" and offered coffee and biscuits in a room where history was made: for in 1833, Antoine LeCoultre, a self-taught watchmaker, a brilliant inventor trained in his father's forge here, founded a little workshop and 11 years later created the first instrument capable of measuring components to the nearest thousandth of a millimetre-the Millionometer. It was followed with the keyless watch and a highly complicated pocket watch featuring the LeCoultre RMSCQ caliber with minute repeater, chronograph and perpetual calendar. However, the turning point came in 1903 when Parisian Edmond Jaeger challenged the Swiss to manufacture some ultra-thin calibers of his own invention. Jacques-David LeCoultre, grandson of the founder, set about this with great enthusiasm. Out of the duo's friendship was born the beautiful collections of ultra-thin pocket watches followed by other exceptional creations which culminated in the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand. For instance in 1907, LeCoultre Calibre 145 became the slimmest in the world- only 1.38mm thick!