In 1833 the brothers Charles Antoine and Ulysse LeCoultre founded a small workshop in Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, which was to become the famous Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Elie LeCoultre, Antoine’s son, understood that it was necessary to control all the different stages of manufacturing and assembly. In 1866 he transformed his workshop into a “Manufacture”.
In 1870 LeCoultre & Cie manufactured complicated movements using mechanized processes. Within 30 years, with hand and machine, the Manufacture created more than 350 different calibers of which 128 were equipped with chronograph functions and 99 with repeater mechanisms
From 1902 and for the next 30 years, LeCoultre & Cie produced most of the movement blanks for Patek Philippe of Geneva.
In 1903, the Parisian Edmond Jaeger challenged the Swiss to manufacture ultra-thin calibers of his own design. Jacques-David LeCoultre, grandson of Antoine undertook the challenge.
Cartier, a client of Edmond Jaeger for several years signed an exclusive contract with the Parisian watchmaker in 1907, under which agreement Jaeger, LeCoultre & Cie crafted the stunning watch creations of Cartier
The cooperation between the two watchmakers led to a fusion of the brands in 1925 with the founding of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Very celebrated designs are the Reverso, the Master Memovox, Master Reveil.
