Almost all the major jewelry and watch companies in Europe were customers of LeCoultre. Using the most advanced technology has allowed it to occupy a dominant position on the market in the last century.
Jaeger-LeCoultre – is a double name. The oldest of its half - LeCoultre, is a company founded in 1833 by a man named Antoni LeCoultre in the town of Le Sentier, near Geneva. The territorial and ideological proximity to the industrial-oriented IWS (International Watch Co. Schaffhausen), probably influenced on commercial orientation of the company. In contrast to the IWS, which united the whole cycle of metal production for wheels up painting boxes, LeCoultre tried to sell bare mechanisms. The company greatly owes its heyday immense to Russian market. Heinrich Moser and Pavel Bure, the two largest productivity-driver's watches and importer in Russia, used the best products and mainly mechanisms of LeCoultre. More specifically, if there was something good for these big-name brands, it LeCoultre. It is worth to mention that for the unique individual orders Moser used the mechanisms of the company Meylan and Pavel Bure buys Le Roy.
The qualitative leap in the company's history occurred at the confluence of the Paris firm LeCoultre Jaeger. Frenchman Edmond Jaeger was in a decent age, when he was visited by well-deserved success. Working and studying in one of the world's best factories Breguer (the same one that founded and glorified Abraham-Louis Breguer, coolest watchmaker of all time), Jaeger received the invaluable knowledge and experience. Started their own business in the rue Reamuer in Paris, Jaeger and five other workers began to make a really good watches.
In 1860, the factory employs 100 people, and in 1890 production was running already 125 caliber. Over time, the sons of Antoine Elie, Paul and Benjamin joined the business of their father, and soon became LeCoultre company that produces complex mechanisms such as repeaters, chronographs and calendars. In 1899 Eli's son had joined the family business, Jacques-David, LeCoultre became the leading watch factory in the Vallée de Joux.
V1903, Jacques-David entered into a business relationship with the Parisian watchmaker Edmond Jaeger, famous manufacturer of timepieces. The firm was renamed Jaeger-leCoultre, which became even more famous.
One of the creator of new ideas and the first-discoverer of new opportunities in the production of watches was Antoine LeCoultre, design and build machines that could produce machine parts for watches of great precision. Among his designs was millionometr, actually defined as a standard in the watch industry metric system. In 1847, Antoine LeCoultre developed a system of timepieces, in which time is set using the crown. Traditions established this great master pioneer, were retained his receivers: from 1833 on account of the company were hundreds of patented inventions. For several decades, LeCoultre & Co. has become a leading manufacturer of watches and reached incredible success in the creation of complex watch mechanisms.
In 1928 there was a real revolution in watchmaking business. Model Reverso, appeared in 1931, stood in the range of watches, received worldwide recognition. It was a classic watch style Art Deco, and they entered into the history of watchmaking.
In the 1950s and 1960s, it was invented a variety of different watches. Watches Geomatic got the status of chronometer and watch Geophysic had a special antimagnetic protection. With the advent of timepieces Futurematic 1953 (caliber 497 automatic winding) eliminated the need for the crown, and the model Memovox 1956 became the first watch with automatic winding and an alarm function. After 1980, the accumulated ideas and development of the company has been translated into a series of superb new watch.
In total since 1833 in the workshops of Jaeger-LeCoultre mechanisms were created 250 different caliber. Today, the company produces the largest number of calibers - 34.