Jaeger-LeCoultre Continues to Do Their Thing with a Pair of New Master Control Calendars

Some brands just absolutely own a particular niche. Richard Mille, for example. Not a brand we discuss in these pages a whole lot, but in terms of extremely lightweight sports watches sought after by tennis superstars and oligarchs in equal measure, they are the cream of the crop. Cartier owns extravagant shaped cases with meticulous design pedigree. Rolex is your go-to if you want a superior sports watch and have a strong desire to make an Instagram post captioned with “Got the call!” And then there’s Jaeger-LeCoultre. Jaeger-LeCoultre owns “classic watchmaking.” I’m putting that in scare quotes because it’s kind of an annoyingly overused term, but in JLC’s case, it seems to actually apply. For better or worse, Jaeger-LeCoultre is stuck in a land that time forgot, and as much as we (that is to say, definitely me) might want them to really go for it and introduce a modern, daily-wear sports watch designed from the ground up, that’s just not what the brand seems interested in doing right now. Instead, we get watches like these new Master Control models, which are traditional, beautiful, and somewhat safe. JLC has made watches that look like this for almost as long as the manufacture has existed, and they show no signs of slowing down.

That isn’t to say that these watches don’t have some modern touches that make them compelling to a potential buyer in 2022. We’ll get to all of that. But for now, let’s focus on the aesthetic and the complications. Interestingly, JLC is positioning these watches as “utilitarian.” If you find that descriptor surprising, consider that their big release at Watches & Wonders was the Master Hybris Artistica, a tourbillon equipped watch that displays sidereal time, incorporates a star chart, and is a minute repeater to boot (a good thing, as telling the time through the watch’s chimes is probably easier for most than by reading the dial). So, yes, a humble calendar displaying the day and month (in apertures near the dial’s center) and date seems downright tool-ish in comparison to the brand’s haute horlogerie efforts. Fans of vintage watches know this calendar format as a classic of a bygone era, and there’s just a ton of charm in seeing JLC’s application of it here. 

The Master Control Calendar is the more stripped down of the two new releases, with the aforementioned calendar complication plus a moonphase indicator at 6:00. The dial is a sunray brushed silver tone, and you’ll find Arabic numerals at the cardinal positions, 6:00 excluded. If it weren’t for the 40mm case, you could probably convince many that this was actually a vintage watch. While I’m not normally a fan of vintage throwback watches, I quite like this as it feels less like a throwback and more like an execution of what must be the perfect layout for exactly this type of complication. I mean, how could it be better or more intuitive?

The other watch introduced by JLC highlighting this old-school but still top of class calendar is the Master Control Chronograph Calendar. You get zero points for guessing what sets this watch apart from the regular old Master Control Calendar. It’s interesting to look at the two dials side by side. Obviously the chronograph version has a lot more going on and is “busier” by design, but it remains clean to my eye and everything is readable at a glance. One adjustment made on the chrono is that the date is moved to the 6:00 subdial, and the area the outer reaches of the dial are populated by a pulsometer. Again, this is extremely old fashioned, but charming. It also feels authentic coming from a brand like Jaeger-LeCoultre. It’s notable that the chronograph has the same diameter as the Calendar, but is a bit thicker, coming in at a hair over 12mm. 

The Master Control of it all is also worth discussing, as this points to something JLC does incredibly well and is rightfully quite proud of. The Master Control line has been around since the early 90s, and incorporates JLC’s 1,000 hour test to each movement. This internal quality control process has been expanded to all of their products in subsequent years, but the Master Control line is still synonymous with a focus on precision and, yes, classic watchmaking. There isn’t anything particularly fancy about these movements – they are free of gimmicks and buzzwords. They’re just well made, expertly engineered calibers designed by people who really know what they’re doing. 

Both the Master Control Calendar and the Master Control Chronograph Calendar are available now through JLC boutiques. Both come mounted on a stainless steel bracelet (a first for these watches) which is equipped with a quickchange button for easy swapping with a strap. The retail price for the chronograph is $17,300, while the Master Control Calendar is $14,200. Jaeger-LeCoultre