Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Night & Day
Watch reviewed is part of a private collection.
Ladies watches, of the past 20 years or so, can often feel limited in range, an afterthought in designs. Quartz movements are often preferred over mechanical movement when it comes to watches for women. In all fairness, quartz movements offer distinct advantages when it comes to high jewellery pieces; it allows for far greater creativity in the case, dial, and bracelet or strap design, without compromising the basic time-telling functionality on artful pieces. To find something mechanically powered, and designed with women in mind, can be a challenge. One option is to consider vintage pieces, such as men’s dress watches from the 1950s, with sizes usually between 34 to 36mm. Another is to go straight for a modern men’s watch, as long as the wearer likes it. For the women looking for something romantic, poetic, but still very much mechanical, one option is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous collection.
Kept under wraps by Jaeger-LeCoultre at the 2012 SIHH, the Rendez-Vous made its first appearances several months later, notably on the wrist of Diane Kruger, actor and brand ambassador, at the 2012 Venice International Film Festival. Given that the Maison has held the record for the world’s smallest mechanical movement since 1928, the Cal. 101, usually fitted inside slender and elegant ladies’ watches (including the brilliant diamond bracelet watch, worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation), it makes sense that Jaeger-LeCoultre would turn to focus a watch collection for the ladies.
So what?
The Rendez-Vous collection is one of the few lines of watches designed specifically with women in mind, and now featuring mechanical movements only. Each one also features a complication of some sort, from date displays to moon phases to “chiming reminders” (i.e. alarms). The largest in the collection currently measures at 39mm: the bedazzling Rendez-Vous Tourbillon, featuring a diamond bezel, a mother of pearl dial, and decorated with diamonds and sapphires. For something simpler, smaller, and more discrete, there is the Rendez-Vous Night & Day: a 29mm three-hander, featuring a sun and moon day/night indicator.
On the dial, 11 diamonds dot the hour markers. On first glance, the mother-of-pearl dial appears to be a singular piece. It’s only on closer inspection that the inner minute track, with its silver markers, is actually on a white base, and that the two pieces of mother-of-pearl are applied on top. The sapphire blue in the background of the day/night indicator match the blued hands, whilst the silver sun and moon complements the stainless steel case perfectly. The quick release straps make an easy job of changing the “look” of the watch.
Powered by the JLC Cal. 967A, an automatic movement with 38 hours power reserve, the sapphire case back allows the movement to be appreciated. Aesthetically, the blued screws and the ruby jewels contrast nicely, occasionally hidden by the emblematic rotor.
The problem with it is…
As a watch targeted at ladies, not much is wrong with it. For those transitioning from a quartz to mechanical watch, this Rendez-Vous is likely to feel slightly heavier, and occasionally the whirr of the rotor as it winds can be somewhat noticeable. Both serve to remind the wearer of the fact that they have a mechanical watch on their wrist.
The relatively short history of the collection may lack a certain appeal to some collectors. But JLC seems to have made up for that with the quality of their designs and its execution. There is a certain timelessness underlying the design philosophy of the Rendez-Vous. While case draws inspiration from the brand’s Master Control collection and remains fairly static, the dials of the Rendez-Vous offer far greater variety and expression that could almost be considered as a 21st Century styling of art nouveau and art deco.
