For 2022, the Rendez-Vous Dazzling Star from Jaeger-leCoultre captures the celestial phenomenon of shooting stars on the wrist, thanks to an entirely new mechanism conceived and developed within the Manufacture.
Activated by the movement of the wrist, the shooting star appears on the dial at random moments – usually four to six times per hour – its unpredictability making it even more special. To enjoy the enchanting display more often, the star may also be summoned on demand by turning the winding crown several times.
The dial of the new Rendez-Vous Dazzling Star flawlessly portrays the splendor of a starry night sky because it is entirely made of blue aventurine. Three discs are stacked on top of one another in the center, which is surrounded by a ring of diamonds. The first layer, an oval of Aventurine, conceals the shooting star when it is inactive. Beneath it is a circular disc of Aventurine with a cut-out of the shooting star; when activated, this disc spins, sending the star on its curving path across the upper dial. As the star passes, the cut-out reveals the deepest layer of the dial – a fixed disc of golden metal with a glowing gradient finish that accentuates the sense of movement.
This core display is surrounded by a ring of applied numbers in the distinctive Floral font and applied hemispherical hour markers, staying true to the Rendez-Vous collection's design DNA. The time is indicated on these scales by golden Floral hands. Surrounding the 36mm pink gold case, the Dazzling Rendez-Vous bezel forms two concentric rings. There’s an airy quality to these glittering circles, thanks to the prong (or ‘griffe’) setting of the outer ring of 36 stones.
A classical jewellery technique introduced in the Rendez-Vous collection in 2019, it is an exquisite testament to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s gem-setting expertise. Fine gold claws hold the diamonds high, allowing light to pass through them from every angle, maximising the presence of each stone while minimising the visible metal. To complete the watch case, the upper surfaces of the lugs are set with diamonds and an inverted diamond is set into the crown.
The rich blue of the dial is complemented by a shiny blue alligator strap with a folding buckle, or by a sumptuous, fully-set pink gold bracelet specially designed for the Rendez-Vous Dazzling Star. The bracelet’s lozenge-shaped links are grain-set with a total of 436 diamonds (for 4.88 carats) and linked seamlessly together, to wrap around the wrist with the suppleness of a ribbon.
To create a mechanism that expresses an unpredictable phenomenon is a fascinating challenge for watchmaking as it appears to defy the laws of horology – a world where everything is expressed through precisely calibrated, mathematical rhythms. Drawing on almost 190 years of expertise accumulated within the Manufacture, the engineers and watchmakers of Jaeger-LeCoultre have developed the new in-house automatic calibre 734, incorporating the new shooting star mechanism.
In doing so, they have succeeded in an unprecedented feat of capturing a random cosmic phenomenon in a watchmaking complication.
