Under the radar | Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronometre

True masters seldom blow their own horns, preferring to let their skills and accomplishments speak for themselves. Among watchmakers, Jaeger-LeCoultre has every reason to celebrate its achievements very loudly, yet it remains one of the industry’s more discreet maisons.

While rock-star ambassadors created distractions elsewhere and the regular disruption of the IWC boombox echoed through every corner of Watches and Wonders in Geneva this year, Jaeger paid tribute to its home in the Vallée de Joux through a magnificent ice sculpture, inspired by the silence of the forested landscape in winter, and live demonstrations of high-watchmaking skills by its master artisans. This extended to an artful gastronomic collaboration with triple-Michelin-star chef Gilles Varone — part of the annual Made of Makers programme — who created magic with ingredients from the “Valley of Invention” while challenging any preconceptions I may have held about Swiss cheese .