1990s watches are not that popular amongst vintage watch collectors but that is sure to change over the next decade. The time period was just so diverse for watchmaking, with yellow gold still being popular and watches under 40 mm too!
In all seriousness though, there was a lot going on in the collections of watch brands, from Grand Seiko to Jaeger-LeCoultre…Jaeger-LeCoultre, in fact, launched one of its more popular lines today, back in the early 1990s – the Master line!
The Master was certainly one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s more tame creations of the 1990s, with the Reverso getting its first complications in the early 1990s and continuing to innovate with more complications culminating in the first Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo in the mid-1990s.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Diver / Credit: Watchprosite
Jaeger’s Master Control was launched in 1992 with the hopes of bringing back the ‘classic’ look. It was released with three main functions: a chronograph model, ‘travel time’ model, and a model with time and date. Clean simple lines and high-powered mechanical calibers. The Master Control was also the first to undergo something that was previously unheard of, Jaeger’s ‘1000 Hours’. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ‘1,000 Hours Control’ certificate is one that each timepiece received at the time with an emblem to mark it on the caseback. It meant that the watch had passed its rigorous certification process, which includes the watch being tested over 6 weeks, testing temperature, water resistance, shock resistance, and more⁴! The base model of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control was powered by the automatic JLC Cal. 889⁵ – a movement built on decades of experience – with a 28,8000 bph rate, 38-hour power reserve, and 36 jewels. This was a very thin automatic movement of very high quality that was also used by other brands like Audemars Piguet and IWC.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Cal. 889 / Credit: PrestigeTime
Another important piece in the ‘Master’ line was the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor, which was also subject to the testing that the rest of the ‘Master’ watches faced in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ‘1000 Hours’. The Master Compressor, however, was unique for its use of the newly invented Compressor Key System. This was a new system for a screw-in crown invented by Jaeger-LeCoultre, that allowed the crown to be fully opened or closed with a half-turn of the compression key. ‘Open’ or ‘closed’ was indicated by red and white arrows – a system that was useful both for not having to screw the crown down tightly oneself and for allowing manual winding watches to benefit from water-resistant crowns.
And so, while very much a collection that flies under the radar, the Master line is certainly worth the recognition. Most importantly, however, 1990s Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control dress watches are really worth a look when considering the high-end in-house movements and clean, simple aesthetic.
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
“Chapter Four: Master Control and Complicated Reversos.” WatchTime, https://www.watchtime.com/brand-showcase/jaeger-lecoultre-180-years-horological-history/chapter-four-master-control-and-complicated-reversos/.
“Our 1000 Hour Control.” Jaeger-LeCoultre, https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us/en/our-maison/our-1000-hour-control.html.
A vintage IWC ref. R 1009 A in 18k yellow gold for sale on TVW.