Jérôme Lambert on returning to Jaeger-LeCoultre and charting a new era for the maison

Tatler Asia

19-05-2025

At the heart of this next chapter is clarity: doubling down on Jaeger-LeCoultre's core identity as 'the watchmaker of the watchmaker.' It's not just a tagline, Lambert insists—it's a declaration of integrity. 'It highlights the 180 craftsmanship. It highlights that we are the first manufacturer—probably the last one today still doing what we are doing.'
It's also a maison that doesn't rest on its laurels. With over 430 patents, 1,250 in-house movements, and one of the most enduring design icons in horology—the Reverso—Jaeger-LeCoultre has both pedigree and originality on its side. 'I believe that if we combine these two already very strong factors—watchmaking and creation—we can make from our watchmaking creativity a real point of differentiation for the future.'
Above Jaeger-LeCoultre's booth at this year's Watches and Wonders
At Watches and Wonders this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre's showcase leaned heavily into the Reverso, a timepiece that remains emblematic of the maison's elegance and ingenuity. In an industry often accused of repetition, the Reverso still finds ways to surprise.
'We have the privilege to have an icon in a time where watchmaking sometimes tends to repeat itself,' says Lambert. 'We're very happy to have such a factor of differentiation. A Reverso just looks like another Reverso, which is already something amazing when it comes to the maison itself.'
But it's not just about aesthetics. 'For the Reverso, in 94 years, we have created more than 50 movements,' he adds. 'So there's more than one new movement every two years for the Reverso.'
Above The new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface with a Milanese bracelet
This year's unexpected head-turner? The Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds with a Milanese bracelet—the maison's first. The inspiration, says Lambert, came from constraint. 'There is a poet in France called André Gide who said that creativity is born under constraint. So, in a way, we have been creating that watch from a perspective of wanting to bring a bracelet to the Reverso.'
Above This new Jaeger-LeCoultre is nod to archival elegance with a contemporary touch
The result? A minimalist, purist expression of the Reverso with an elegant bracelet design that nods to archival styles from the 1940s and '50s. 'It's how we came to a thin Reverso expression—puristic, hour, minute, and second—and to a historical type of bracelet… the grained dial was giving the aesthetic accomplishment to it.'
That watch, by the way, will be in stores this July. 'We know that it's over-demanded,' Lambert chuckles. 'So a good advice for anybody is to go to a boutique or to a partner and to place a deposit.'
See also: What 2 watch collectors took away from Watches and Wonders 2025 Tradition in a Time of Transition
Above Since 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso has balanced geometric elegance with mechanical ingenuity
In the age of digital ephemerality, Jaeger-LeCoultre's position as a standard-bearer of traditional watchmaking seems almost paradoxical—and yet more vital than ever. 'In a world that is changing a lot, there is interest in things that are not changing,' Lambert notes. 'In a world where planned obsolescence is the essence, you aspire for products that would become your companions.'
For Lambert, this connection between the watch and the wearer isn't abstract. It's tangible. At Jaeger-LeCoultre's own Heritage Gallery, over 6,000 objects have been collected, many donated by clients with handwritten letters detailing their emotional significance. 'You feel that the watch in its functionality has been in some way absorbing their history and becoming a memory stick—but not a digital memory stick—a physical memory stick.'
Above Born on the polo field, the iconic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso was originally designed to withstand the sport's intensity
This is what gives mechanical watches their enduring relevance, he argues: 'The opportunities that you get with these products to enter them in your tradition, to live with them, to have them absorbing your time in history, is very important these days. Accelerated by the fact that everything is more obsolete than ever.'
That's not to say Jaeger-LeCoultre is immune to technological shifts. On the contrary, Lambert sees digital platforms as an asset. 'We balance it out by first using digital to communicate more than ever,' he says. 'To not use it would be foolish. But again, in parallel, the quest for beauty, for intrinsic value, for things that are not changing... That emotion comes from this absolute purity.'
For a maison with nearly two centuries of history, staying agile isn't just about product. It's also about the experience. Post-pandemic, Jaeger-LeCoultre has begun reimagining what the boutique can be—transforming them into spaces of discovery.
Above More than a boutique—the new Jaeger-LeCoultre 1931 café invites clients to pause, reflect, and experience the maison at their own rhythm
'The new boutique in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur is made with a lot of points of interaction,' Lambert shares. That includes a Manufacture Wall that explains technique and know-how, as well as lifestyle-driven touches like a café. 'You can sit, and you can have another way of interacting with the maison.'
These spaces also support Jaeger-LeCoultre's growing cultural initiative, 'Made of Makers,' which bridges fine watchmaking with other artistic disciplines. 'It's very meaningful post-COVID, to have that qualitative exchange and time,' says Lambert.
Don't miss: Jaeger-LeCoultre Launches Art Deco-Inspired 1931 Café
After decades at the helm of some of Richemont's most esteemed maisons, Lambert now brings a long-view perspective to his leadership at Jaeger-LeCoultre. The challenge, he says, is time itself.
'When we work on a project over five or 10 years… Who can guess what the world will be in seven to 10 years when you don't know what it will be in the next seven to 10 hours?' he asks. 'But what I learned in the past is that if it's conceptually strong, then it will be equally strong in seven years.'
Above Looking ahead, Lambert is focused on preserving legacy while positioning Jaeger-LeCoultre for the decades to come
As for where luxury is headed, Lambert remains pragmatic. 'There is a quest for more meaning,' he says, before adding a wry observation: 'Every time there is a time which is a little bit more challenging, we say it's for meaning. And then when everything is easier economically, everything is about showing and sharing.'
It's a cycle he's seen before. And perhaps that's why Lambert's approach to Jaeger-LeCoultre's future is rooted in something far more enduring than trend: the belief that relevance isn't about chasing the moment—it's about outlasting it.
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