Sometimes a watch comes along and just kind of stops you in your tracks. We all, I think, have those moments where we stumble across a watch or see a new release and imagine that the brand has downloaded your thoughts and run them through some kind of artificial intelligence program designed to create watches that are uniquely appealing to you, and you alone. I think a lot of people are actually going to find the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon to be that kind of beautiful, but it happens to hit on a bunch of things that really sing to me in a watch like this.
The Master Ultra Thin watches are incredible pieces of engineering, with impossibly slim movements that translate to cases that provide a wearing experience like little else on the market. If I could ever identify a gripe with the line, though, it’s that the dials have never really blown me away. They are very nice, to be sure, but they have a tendency to be relentlessly dressy, and a bit sober. That’s perfectly fine of course for a watch in this genre, but they tend not to have that “wow” factor. They’re watches for connoisseurs who know exactly what they’re looking for.
The newest entry in the Master Ultra Thin collection has all the watchmaking chops and refined sensibilities of every other watch in their corner of the JLC family tree, but this one leads with the dial in a way that others don’t. The new Master Ultra Thin Moon features a dark gradient blue dial, borrowing a bit of that sense of drama and texture from recent Polaris releases, a collection where JLC seems to be far more willing to experiment with texture and color. On this watch, the blue is accented with gold triangles at each hour, and a moon phase display and calendar at 6:00. It’s all very balanced and refined, which is exactly what you want in a watch like this.
The blue tones of the dial are a great complement to the rose gold case, which measures 39mm in diameter (and 9.3mm thick). This is the other piece of the puzzle for me: a dressy watch in a more casual, everyday size that feels contemporary. This watch would have still been a knockout and completely appropriate at 36 or 37mm, but I think in this situation a case size that creeps toward 40mm makes it a prime candidate for a dressed down dress watch, which is one of my absolute favorite things. Jaeger-LeCoultre has always been great at this. The Reverso, to my mind, is the prime example of the dress watch that works even better as a casual watch, and I think the Master Ultra Thin Moon, even in gold, has a similar quality at this size.
The movement used here is JLC’s Automatic Calibre 925, with a skeletonized and solid gold winding rotor and 70 hours of power reserve, which is impressive given the movement’s small size. The Master Ultra Thin Moon is water resistant to 50 meters (please don’t swim with this watch, people) and is mounted to a blue alligator strap.
The retail price of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon is $23,000. Jaeger-LeCoultre
