The enameler uses a combination of opaque and translucent enamels to create areas of more or less light and dark colors, which evoke the landscapes of different continents. The dial has 10 layers of enamel, the installation of which requires more than 20 hours of work alone.
Lacquering, an artisanal process, consists of applying several layers of coating by hand to a surface to be decorated. It starts with a coat of clear varnish, followed by another of colored lacquer.
For greater richness and depth, the craftsman can add up to 15 layers of translucent lacquer, each of which requires a precisely controlled drying process. Finally, this circular surface is polished to a finish that catches the light and enhances its colors.
As on (almost) all world time watches, its center displays a map of the world seen from the North Pole. The outline of the continents is cut from a thin 18-carat gold plate and decorated with champlevé enamel. However, unlike the traditional flat image, this map floats above the main dial plate, on a domed rose gold skeleton structure, formed by the longitudes and latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
This structure gives an effect of lightness and depth to the dial. It overlooks the main plate of the dial, whose undulating guilloche pattern, coated with a translucent blue-green lacquer, recalls the movement of waves.
Each time zone on this world time watch is represented by the name of a city, inscribed on a green opaline flange.
The latter is itself surrounded by two fixed concentric rings: the inner ring has a 24-hour scale, marked by applied rectangular indexes and laser-engraved numbers; the outer ring features the railway, also laser engraved on a dark green lacquer background which complements the colors of the land and sea landscapes.
A circular opening on one side of the dial reveals a flying tourbillon that appears weightless above the oceans. As it rotates on its axis in 60 seconds and a complete revolution of the dial in 24 hours, the domed map and the flange with the city names rotate in unison, imitating the movement of the Earth on its axis. .
This system combining city names and a 24-hour scale makes it possible to indicate the local time of the places mentioned.
The Caliber 948 from Jaeger-LeCoultre promises to be the very first movement to have combined a world time display and a flying tourbillon. Remember that the universal tourbillon, an invention patented by the Grande Maison, makes a complete revolution of the dial in 24 hours, the duration of an average solar day.
This automatic movement of 388 components was entirely designed, developed and produced within the Manufacture. It has been designed to offer a watch that is extremely simple to operate: the time is set with the crown, which synchronizes all the time zones.
When traveling, it is changed with the same crown, which allows you to move only the hand of the
hours one hour forwards or backwards, while allowing those of the minutes and seconds to continue their movement with precision.
The 43mm case (waterproof to 50 meters) is associated with a convex bezel, made up of more than 40 parts. It contrasts with its wide-angled horns with hollow sides. Its surfaces are microblasted, polished or satin-finished to create a play of light. The warmth of rose gold is enhanced by a dark green alligator leather strap, matching the dial.
