Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC share a group and a supply history but not a shape of catalogue: 625 watches on 128 movements against 1,763 on 135.
In this library
| Comparison | Jaeger-LeCoultre | IWC |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1833 | 1868 |
| Watches in this library | 625 | 1,763 |
| Collections | 12 | 10 |
| Calibers in use | 128 | 135 |
| Winding | 56% automatic, 37% hand-wound, 6% quartz | 84% automatic, 11% hand-wound, 5% quartz |
| Median case size | 38.2 mm | 42 mm |
| Most common sizes | 39 mm, 40 mm, 42 mm | 39 mm, 42 mm, 42.3 mm |
| Case material | 44% steel, 52% precious metal, 1% two-tone | 47% steel, 42% precious metal, 2% two-tone |
| Water resistance, median | 50 m | 50 m |
| Rated to 100 m or more | 9% | 21% |
| Rated to 300 m or more | 1% | 2% |
| Complications | 10% chronograph, 2% perpetual calendar, 9% tourbillon, 1% minute repeater | 27% chronograph, 9% perpetual calendar, 6% tourbillon, 1% annual calendar, 1% minute repeater |
| Display caseback | 55% | 30% |
| Limited editions | 12% | 30% |
| Rarity median (1–10) | 5 | 5 |
| Rarity 8 or above | 21% | 25% |
A movement maker and a case maker
Jaeger-LeCoultre's five most common calibers cover only 19 per cent of its watches here, the widest spread of any brand in this library, because the maison has always made a movement for each watch: the rectangular 822 for the Reverso, the ultra-thin calibers of the Master Ultra Thin, the twin-barrel Duomètre. It also supplied the ultra-thin 920 that Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe built on, which the 2121 page describes, and the mechaquartz 631 IWC fitted to 51 watches here, most of them Portofinos.
IWC builds families and puts them in many cases: the seven-day 52010 across the Portugieser and Big Pilot, the 69000 chronographs across the Pilot's, Ingenieur and Portugieser, and the Pellaton piece explains the winding system that runs through them. Its five most common calibers cover 27 per cent.
Cases
Jaeger-LeCoultre is the thinner and smaller brand here: a median case of 38.2 mm and 9.9 mm thick, against 42 mm and 14.3 mm at IWC. 37 per cent of its watches are hand-wound and 6 per cent quartz, the Reverso accounting for most of both, against 11 and 5 per cent at IWC. Steel is 44 per cent of Jaeger-LeCoultre and 47 per cent of IWC, precious metal 52 and 42. Water resistance is a dress rating at both, a median of 50 m, with the Polaris and the Aquatimer the divers.
Complications
IWC's are calendars and chronographs: 27 per cent of its watches here are chronographs and 9 per cent perpetual calendars, most of them Kurt Klaus's calendar from the Da Vinci onward, with the Grande Complication at the top. Jaeger-LeCoultre's are tourbillons and strikers: 9 per cent of its watches carry a tourbillon, the Gyrotourbillons of the Master Grande Tradition among them, and its chronographs are the Duomètre's foudroyante and the Master Control Chronograph Calendar. 30 per cent of the IWC watches here are limited editions and 12 per cent of Jaeger-LeCoultres.
The pairs
The Reverso has no IWC equivalent, and the Pilot's Watch no Jaeger-LeCoultre one; those two collections, 216 and 344 references, are what each brand is known for. Where they meet: the Master Ultra Thin and the Portofino as dress watches, the Polaris and the Aquatimer as sports watches, and the Master Control and the Portugieser as the round classical lines with a manufacture movement.