Vendome Masterclass

We were fortunate to be invited by Caroline to attend a watchmaking masterclass on our last day in Paris. We thought it was a fantastic way to end our great week in Paris.

On arriving we were met by Caroline, Nicolas, and Jerome the watchmaker. We watched as Jerome disassembled a calibre 822 movement in stages with Vikki and I then attempting to do the same stage.

Wow, great admiration for all those watchmakers who do this work daily. At least this time I got my loupe on straight. Amazing how hard it is to handle the small screwdriver and try not to have the screws fly off while working on the movement. I was just glad that the movement was a practice piece as we left a few scratches on the plates. Vikki was a bit more capable with the small parts, which impressed Jerome and Nicolas, she has had plenty of practice due to her jewellery making hobby.

The movement after we broke it down. Thankfully we didn’t have to take the complete movement apart.

Back together again, with a few extra decorative marks on the bridge. Our artistic touch.

Vikki and I with Jerome.

After our little session of stress and fun, we were invited again to the upstairs salon for an inspection of watches. Caroline not only bought out the watches we had seen previously but also the boutique edition Duometre Unique Travel Time (100 pieces) in white gold. The boutique edition features a red 7 and 9 in the date indicator which represents the address of the Jaeger LeCoultre in Place Vendome. This watch was unveiled at the reopening of the Place Vendome boutique last November.

Perhaps this is the watch I should buy for when we travel, although Australia seems to be missing from the map. I wonder if there is a version with the southern hemisphere.

We would like to thank Caroline, Nicolas and Jerome for their time and attention during our visits to the boutique. We thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting the Jaeger LeCoultre flagship boutique in Place Vendome and look forward to returning again in the future.