A sublime objet d’art is the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590. In keeping with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s eternal quest for precision, the Manufacture’s engineers and watchmakers have created a new complication that reproduces the true cycles of the Earth, Sun, and Moon more closely than ever before, developing it specifically for the Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590. The extraordinary mechanism brings an entirely new dimension to the Atmos —the unique perpetual clock that runs on air— displaying, in three dimensions and in real-time, the relative positions and movements of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun.
Nicknamed the Atmos Tellurium, this is the most complex Atmos clock ever created, pushing the limits of both precision and design, and the intricacy and architectural beauty of its movement naturally inspired the artisans of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Métiers Rares atelier. Dedicating a wide range of their craft skills to its decoration —from miniature painting and laser-engraving to lacquer-work and meteorite inlay— they have elevated the Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590 to become a sublime work of art as well as an outstanding timekeeping device.
In the very beginning, thanks to the movements of stars and planets, mankind became aware of the passing of time and began to define and measure it. Days, with periods of light and darkness, were defined by one complete rotation of Earth on its axis; years were defined by the time it takes for the Sun to return to the same position in the sky, completing a full cycle of seasons.
Invented in 1928, the Atmos needs no human intervention to wind its movement; a temperature variation of just one degree Celsius provides sufficient energy to wind it for 48 hours, enabling it to run perpetually if kept under normal everyday conditions. Because this remarkable system produces only a small amount of energy —some 40 times less energy than a traditional 4Hz watch movement typically offers— the Atmos movement has been designed to consume as little energy as possible, with the balance taking one minute to perform a complete oscillation.
Over time, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers have mastered the challenge of adding functions to the mechanism without substantially increasing energy consumption. In doing so, they have discovered that the complications best suited to the Atmos are those based on longer cycles, such as the seasons, months, and phases of the moon.
The new Calibre 590 was entirely conceived, designed, and constructed within the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre and assembled in the Atmos atelier, a workshop solely dedicated to Atmos. Comprising 443 components, with the tellurium complication fully integrated into the movement, it required more than four years of research and development. As well as reproducing with precision the rotation of Earth on its own axis, and the orbits of the Moon around Earth and Earth around the Sun, the new calibre indicates the corresponding months and seasons with a zodiacal calendar.
The clock face is defined by a peripheral ring formed of two layers. The upper layer, fixed in place, is marked with an hour-and-minute track and the names of the seasons; this conceals a mobile ring marked with the months, which appear in an aperture at 6 o’clock. Set within this frame is a disc of translucent blue sapphire crystal, laser-engraved with the zodiac signs. At the center of the dial, the sun is represented by a burst of polished golden metal rays.
Close to the peripheral ring, balanced by a wedge-shaped counterweight, a circle of meteorite frames a transparent sapphire disc into which a spherical Earth and Moon are set. The Earth rotates on its axis in 24 hours, the length of a civil day, providing a night-day indication as it revolves. At the same time, the Moon orbits Earth in one synodic month, turning on its own axis to show its phases. Defined by one complete cycle of moon phases, a mean synodic month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2 seconds in length. This mean or average duration allows for the slight variation caused by the elliptical shape of the Moon’s orbit. The mechanism of the Atmos is so close to this mean that it creates only one day of error in 5,770 years.
This entire Earth-and-Moon disc orbits around the central Sun, making a complete rotation in one solar year, indicating the seasons as it turns. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers have succeeded in establishing a cycle of 365.2466 days. This is so close to the reference value of 365.2425 days found in the Gregorian calendar that it varies by only one day in 390 years, meaning that it will not need adjusting until the year 2412.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590 measures 21.5 cm in diameter and 25.3 cm in height —8.4” x 9.9”—. The clock indicates the hours, minutes, night & day, month, moon phases, and zodiacal calendar and is housed in a cylindrical glass cabinet hand-painted with the constellations and featuring inlaid meteorite; engraving; miniature painting, and lacquer. The clock is available in a limited edition of 10 pieces.
Sticker Price $570,000 USD. For more info on Jaeger-LeCoultre click here.
