How did you first begin your career in watchmaking?
I started long ago. I started because my sister was in the watchmaking industry. I was only 14 years old. I watched my sister when she was working and that is how my passion for watchmaking grew.

Since you were 14! How many years has it been then?
Very long! (laughing). All together it has been 47 years (with 20 years at Jaeger-LeCoultre).

Was there sibling rivalry between you and your sister?
No, it was actually a common passion between us. I was learning from her in the beginning, but she had to stop in the late 1970s when a crisis hit the watchmaking industry in Switzerland. She stopped, but I continued.

Are any of your children involved in the watchmaking industry?
No, they are not. I have a son in the industry but he is not a watchmaker.

Can you tell us more about the team that worked on the Jaeger-LeCoultre à Grande Sonnerie?
The team involved in the concept, design and construction of the timepiece comprised four or five members. I assembled all the main pieces. There were also others in the manufacturing segment.

What is the most challenging aspect in the product development process?
To put 1,300 components in a case… a very compact case. Putting together each mechanism and piece inside the case — it was a slow process, and it was the most difficult thing to do. It is only 44mm in diameter and 10.5mm in height. We also have the 14mm ‘infernal tower’ (the master system for sound programming and timekeeping); we had to develop it and make sure that the movements are always in equilibrium. So, thinking and developing all this is most difficult, naturally.

Is it possible to include more than four pairs of gongs and hammers in the watch?
(Laughs.) There is no real reason why it shouldn’t be possible! With continuous development, you never know…!

How did the team manage to refine the purity and crystalline quality of each note?
It is mainly the material used to produce the sound. We tried through electronic devices to test different gongs, frequencies and scales. The tricky thing is developing the alloy to get exactly the sound we wanted. What is the material…? Well… it is a secret, I can’t tell you!

Are you satisfied with the watch at this stage? Are there any improvements to make?
The functionality of the watch is complete; we are working to refine it to make it more brilliant... It is the aesthetics we are improving now.

Congratulations on heading this team that has designed the world’s most complicated watch.
Thank you. It is a great challenge and honour for me to reach this point of my career. It is a wonderful sensation to be part of a team working on this watch... It is very, very fulfilling.



This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 786, Dec 21-27, 2009.