Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre a Chronographe Luxury Watch Review

Watchuwant is now WatchBox! Subscribe for the best luxury watch content. Darth Vader would approve of this Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre a Chronographe in 18-karat white gold. The brilliant white case encloses a heart of darkness; this is the only Duometre a Chronographe variant to have been produced with the coveted black dial. And as a limited edition, it's one of only 200 produced. Jaeger-LeCoultre's Duometre combines two watch movements in a single 42mm white gold case. Each movement features a separate drive train, a separate dial, separate controls, and a separate mainspring barrel. The in-house caliber 381 merges its two power trains at the point of the escapement, which provides an alternating beat for both movements. Two movements, one heartbeat; that's the idea. JLC created the Duometre to solve an age-old frustration that had vexed generations of watchmakers. When a complicated watch powers a secondary function such as a chronograph or calendar, the additional strain on the power supply slows both functions as the amplitude (beat energy) of the balance is reduced by the load. Alternatively, a watchmaker can avoid the loss of amplitude by driving the complication directly off the mainspring, but that depletes the power reserve faster. The challenge is akin to what a truck driver faces when maintaining speed on the highway while towing a trailer. If he wants to use the same amount of fuel as he would without the trailer, he must drive slower and lose valuable time.