Running On Air: The History of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Clock
Jaeger-LeCoultre?s Atmos clocks, whose ingenious, near-perpetual mechanical movements are driven by air temperature changes, have been pushing the boundaries of horology and design since the 1930s. We explore their fascinating history and avant-garde evolution in this feature from the WatchTime archives.
The Atmos 568 by Marc Newson
Before wristwatches came pocketwatches, and before pocketwatches came clocks. All the venerable watchmaking maisons owe some debt to the clockmakers who paved the way for their portable, micromechanical wrist timekeepers, and some of them have even produced clocks of their own at some point in their history. Even today, you can find some of the biggest names in luxury wristwatches displayed on wall clocks in watch boutiques and airports ? almost all of those clocks powered by electronic rather than mechanical means. However, there is one historical Swiss watch manufacture still actively engaged in mechanical clockmaking in the 21st century ? applying to this ancient art the same care and meticulous craftsmanship that it devotes to its wristwatches. Moreover, Jaeger-LeCoultre?s Atmos clocks ? a mainstay of the Le Sentier-based company since the 1930s ? are neither electronic nor traditionally mechanical, but something else entirely.
While building wrist-borne timepieces remains Jaeger-LeCoultre?s primary vocation, the company continues to release, year after year and often in limited numbers, new variations on the Atmos, an invention tha...
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