Vintage appeal: Jaeger-LeCoultre’s The Collectibles capsule collection is coming to Singapore

The lure of a vintage watch lies in its nostalgia. With history embedded in the movement and design, it allows the wearer to go back in time. Each tick and turn of its hands echo of eras gone by.
In recent years, many watchmakers have been taking a trip down memory lane with reissue lines, often inspired by classic or iconic models from their archives. Cartier has its Les Reeditions series, where it releases new editions of its most historically important watches. Vacheron Constantin has a Historiques collection, which revives its iconic models in contemporary reinterpretations. Breitling’s Heritage line includes reproductions of the Navitimer and the Superocean, which pay tribute to these historical models with modern craftsmanship.
Taking things one step further, Jaeger-LeCoultre launched a programme called The Collectibles in 2023, where it sources for vintage pieces from its archives and restores them. These timepieces are then available for purchase on its website and are unveiled twice a year in the form of capsule collections that travel around the world. The collection is continuously evolving – once a watch has been sold, new models are added to the collection.
Previous launches were held in Geneva and Los Angeles in 2023. This year, a third capsule collection will be unveiled in Singapore on Oct 11. Singapore is the first country in Asia to debut the collection.
The Collectibles capsule will be on display to the public at Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Marina Bay Sands boutique from Oct 13 to Oct 23. Watchmaking demonstrations will take place on the weekends. 
Matthieu Sauret, product marketing and heritage director of Jaeger-LeCoultre, describes The Collectibles as a “celebration of our glorious past”. After all, Jaeger-LeCoultre is known as the watchmaker of watchmakers. It started off by making movements for brands such as Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. In the 1920s, it began making its own watches that have now become icons of the brand.
The watchmaker identified 17 of its most emblematic models to be part of the programme, spanning from the 1920s to the 1970s, also known as the “golden age” of watchmaking. They were “chosen for their historical importance, watchmaking innovation and their groundbreaking design”, said Sauret.
Models include the Duoplan, which was introduced in the 1920s and revolutionised precision in ultra-thin watches. The name “Duoplan” reflects its two-level design, which separates the gear train and escapement from the mainspring barrel to reduce friction and increase accuracy.
Also part of the selection is the iconic Reverso, originally conceived in the 1930s to withstand the rigours of a polo match with a rectangular sliding case that could slip the watch out of the socket to face inward.
The 1950s is represented by the Futurematic, the first watch ever without a crown to wind the movement. The 1960s era is represented by the Memovox Polaris, one of the first watches to combine a dive watch with an alarm function that alerted divers to elapsed time underwater, before moving to the 1970s with the Memovox Snowdrop. 
Duoplan
Reverso
Triple Calendar
Powermatic
Memovox
Futurematic
Quartermaster
Geophysic
Memovox Deep Sea
Memovox Automatic
Geomatic
Memovox Polaris
Master Mariner Deep Sea
Shark Deep Sea
Memovox Polaris II
Memovox GT
Memovox Snowdrop
The watches are sourced from the open market, including at auctions and dealers, shared Sauret. Every piece is thoroughly vetted by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s historical experts and fully serviced and restored by the specialised watchmakers of its restoration workshop. The restoration team goes through the archives to find the blueprint of every piece made, and in some cases, also find a stock of original space components. If original components are not available, they make an identical component from scratch.
To keep the watches as close as possible to their original condition, minimal work is done on the case and the dial. “When we speak about restoration, it is really about cleaning the dial and the case, but not polishing them. We also completely dismantle the calibre, clean every part and then reassemble it,” explained Sauret. “These watches are sometimes 60 to 80 years of age and when they are restored, they are given another life and will work again for another 80 years, we hope, with their new owners.”  
Every Collectibles timepiece is presented with an extract from the Jaeger-LeCoultre archives and a new watch strap. In addition, when available, the original box and papers, and original strap or bracelet will be included. Buyers will also be given a complimentary copy of The Collectibles coffee table book, which provides an encyclopaedic history of each of the 17 models.
Here, Sauret shares more about The Collectibles programme.
What is the mission of The Collectibles programme?
The mission of The Collectibles is to highlight the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre, to show the importance of these models to the world and to watchmaking as a whole, because some of them have been revolutionary. They really changed the world of fine watchmaking. It is also a way for us to reach out to our clients – whether through the coffee table book that tells the story of JLC as well as educates them on what they should look for in our watches. We feel it’s important to explain our history because history always highlights the past, and very often also illuminates the future.
What is the process like to source for these watches and what were some of the challenges?
Oh yes, there were a lot of challenges. There are several auction houses and dealers around the world, but we are looking only for those 17 models. It can be difficult to hunt for a hidden gem among a million other watches. It’s a lot of research, a lot of hunting, but when we find a gem, it’s always an amazing discovery. Sometimes people tell me, you must be so proud to see these watches being reborn again. But the hunt is as beautiful as bringing these watches back to life. That’s the beauty of The Collectibles programme. I think it’s also inspiring for all collectors, should they want to invest in these watches or hunt for watches themselves.
Did you uncover any unexpected finds?
We always discover some unexpected timepieces. We had a collector who had inherited a lot of watches from his father. He was introduced to The Collectibles programme and wanted to buy a watch. He told us about his collection and brought his watches to us. In his collection was a white gold version of a watch we created in 1972 called the Snowdrop. To make a watch in full white gold – with a huge case of 42mm and a bracelet also in white gold – it must have cost a fortune back then. So we only made 18 pieces and we didn’t keep any for the museum. All this time we knew that they existed, but we always thought they were impossible to find.
When we saw the collector’s watch, we almost fainted. He was kind enough to lend it to our museum and now we are able to exhibit it. This is the beauty of The Collectibles programme. Now that we’re hunting for these watches, maybe there are more unexpected finds to come.
Were there any challenges in the restoration process?
The challenge is to restore the watches to a perfect working state. But usually when they come to us, they are still in good working condition. Watches that were created in the 1920s are not created in the same way that we make phones or cars today. After a few years, you know the phone is not going to work. Watches were created to last for centuries, if you care for them well.
The challenge is sometimes to recreate a part of the watch that has worn down because time has done its effects. But we are lucky in that everything we sell in The Collectibles was created and designed in-house at our manufacture. So these watches come back home to where they were made. We own all the patents, all the plans and sometimes all the tools that were used to create those pieces. When we receive the watches, we can always turn to our great archives to restore them.
Are vintage watches rising in popularity amongst collectors?
There are always different trends with vintage watches. Sometimes the trend is for really complicated watches. A few years back, there was a vintage sports watch trend. Now what we see is a rise in popularity for art deco watches with unusual shapes. Of course, at JLC, we have a large variety of art deco and unusually shaped watches, because we created this trend in the 1920s when we started making them.
We try to showcase this side of the brand a little bit more but with The Collectibles, the idea is really to show our wide array of timepieces created throughout our history from the 1920s to 1970s. We don’t really cater to a trend. There is always a client or collector that’s going to be interested in one part of our history, and another who would be interested in another.
Singapore will be the collection’s first destination in Asia. Why was Singapore chosen?
When we started this programme in 2023, it was launched to celebrate our 190th anniversary. We held the event at our manufacture and flew in some of our clients and did video calls to show them the watches. There were people from Singapore and countries around Singapore who really showed a love and appreciation for vintage watches and the history that they represent. Therefore, it was natural for our first destination in Asia to be Singapore.
Are there any specific models that will be launched in Singapore that you are excited about?
We feel like each capsule brings new surprises each time – what I love about this new capsule is that the pieces all together form an extraordinary ensemble with amazing dials.
To book a time slot for a private viewing of the collection, go to https://online-booking.jaeger-lecoultre.com/atelier/108