Image courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre
Women are the stars of 2014, when it comes to high-end watches - a least according to major luxury groups such as
Why the sudden focus on women's watches? In all honesty, the watch industry never forgot the women's category, as for years timepieces destined for women have accounted for a large percentage of luxury watch sales. What has changed, is the character of high-end women's watch. The focus for so long has been precious materials and aesthetics, and if the luxury watch industry has anything to say about it, women should start valuing complicated mechanical movements.
Housed in the 2014 Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater's case is the caliber 942A automatic mechanical movement, produced in-house at the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture. While this is an existing movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre more than likely never put into a case this small. In fact, while the size of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater is smaller than most of their similarly-shaped men's watches, it is not akin to the more petite sizes often associated with women's watches. Having said that, ladies interested in the complexity and functionality of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater will perhaps gladly sacrifice a bit of elegance for the sheer impressiveness of the overall presentation.
The caliber 942A combines indication of the time with a minute repeater complication - all with a self-winding automatic rotor. Minute repeaters are highly historic mechanisms that use a series of chimes to indicate the current time via sounds. Such functionality was adopted from the chimes of clocks, and often used to know the time when it was too dark to see a dial. Today, the minute repeater is a valued and honored mechanical complication, even though their utility is limited. The watch industry often considers those who invest in minute repeaters to find value in their charm and mechanical construction.
While the women's watch market has not yet indicated a distinct desire for minute repeating mechanisms, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater makes a strong case for one, with its "watch nerd approved" movement and dramatically beautiful hand-made dial (not to mention copious amounts of diamonds). Nevertheless, given the apparent artistry and elegance Jaeger-LeCoultre was going for, the question remains, is 39mm wide too large for a formal women's watch? Perhaps, but I have no doubt that enough women will be able to pull it off. Even so, Jaeger-LeCoultre chose to debut the Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater timepeice at Richemont's Watches & Wonders 2014 show in Hong Kong - the gateway to the Chinese market where "size standards" are often more traditional (small).
Jaeger-LeCoultre included "ivy" in the name of the watch, as the blue and diamond dial is set on a motif of ivy leaves. The dial is hand-produced and set, meant to evoke the appearance of snow falling and settling on ivy leaves. Like the case of the watch itself, the dial of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater is produced from 18k white gold. The hands, as well, are "floral" in style.
Minute repeater-based mechanical watches are already highly expensive timepieces, so the addition of diamonds isn't understood to dramatically alter their marketability. Once a watch costs more than $100,000, it is understood that most clients with this type of disposable income can extend themselves a bit more. Diamonds are also an important way that luxury watch brands profit, because while they do add time and complexity to the construction of a watch, they command a high premium.
Taken as a whole, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater certainly exudes a feminine sheen, but at heart, it is still a complicated mechanical watch that, with another skin, could be more then suitable for a man. Brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre still aren't always aware of what women looking to spend $100,000 on a timepiece are interested in - but then again, niche buyers at this level are difficult to predict. It will be interesting to see how important the complicated watch segment for women will be in a few years from now.
Ariel Adams is the founder and editor of the watch review site aBlogtoWatch.com.
