If you’re looking for a watch that’ll make you look and feel fabulous, you can’t do much better than the luxurious Swiss watch brand Jean Lassale. Founded in the 18th century in the small town of Chaux-de-Fonds, Jean Lassale has been a premier name in Swiss horology for over two centuries. With its signature mix of top-of-the-line technology and elegant design, it’s no surprise that Jean Lassale watches remain an object of classic beauty and a timeless favorite for today’s watch enthusiast.
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An Unrivaled Legacy
The story of Jean Lassale began in the late eighteenth century, when a man named Jean Lassale put his skill in watchmaking to work to create exquisite pocket watches for the aristocracy. Recognized for their outstanding craftsmanship and elegantly simple designs, these watches quickly gained a reputation within the elite circles of the Swiss watch-making industry. As the years passed, Jean Lassale became renowned for its consistent innovation in watch technology — introducing the first mechanical movements and the thinnest self-winding movement in the world — and produced exquisite timepieces for royalty, dignitaries, and celebrities.
Timekeeping at Its Finest
Today, Jean Lassale watches keep alive the brand’s unparalleled legacy of superior craftsmanship and incredible accuracy. Jean Lassale is committed to using only the most innovative and reliable mechanisms in all of their watches. This legacy commitment is embodied in the proprietary Calibre 1120 Ultra-Thin Movement, one of the slimmest-profile self-winding movements ever created and the hallmark of all Jean Lassale watches. This movement is precision-crafted and tested by Jean Lassale’s watchmakers before being encased in one of Jean Lassale’s classic designs.
A Collection for Every Occasion
Jean Lassale produces a wide variety of watches and timepieces for every possible occasion. From dress watches that are sure to impress to more casual watches that are perfect for everyday activities, Jean Lassale has something for everyone. The brand also produces collectibles such as limited-edition series and collaborations with celebrity figures. In addition, Jean Lassale offers the Quartz range, a collection of quartz watches distinguished by simple design and superior technology.
Jean Lassale’s Main Models
The Jean Lassale Signature is the brand’s flagship collection and the embodiment of its commitment to the highest standards of watchmaking. The Signature collection features Jean Lassale’s classic and timeless designs that seamlessly combine form and function. Other main models in the Jean Lassale collection include the Calibre 1120 Range, a selection of watches with varying styles featuring the signature ultra-thin Calibre 1120 movement; the Quartz Collection, a range of quartz watches in a variety of contemporary designs; the Limelight Range, a selection of watches coveted for its unique designs and striking colors; and the Elegance Range, a collection of luxury watches crafted with diamonds and precious stones.
When it comes to elegance, sophistication, and quality, Jean Lassale has set the standard for the Swiss watch industry. For over two centuries, Jean Lassale has been engineering timepieces with precision, accuracy, and a dedication to unparalleled craftsmanship. Today nearly every Jean Lassale watch is made using the proprietary Calibre 1120 Ultra-Thin Movement and is a testament to Jean Lassale’s commitment to creating timeless, reliable watches for every occasion.
Jean Lassale was a Swiss watch company that designed the Calibre 1200, featuring the thinnest mechanical watch movement: 1.2 mm. In the 1970s, Pierre Mathys, master watchmaker in La Chaux-de-Fonds, designed and built the prototype of a revolutionary watch caliber, with the goal of making the thinnest watch in the world. To achieve this feat, Mathys based his design on the work of Robert Annen, who previously had the idea of using ball bearings in small scale horology. Mathys decided to remove the bridges and counter-pivot, and instead use ball bearings for the axis.
The company Bouchet-Lassale was founded by Jean Bouchet-Lassale on October 8, 1976.
The company won several awards for its watches:
In 1978-79, a collaboration starts between Bouchet-Lassale SA and Omega SA, through Lemania-Lugrin SA, L’Orient, which were both units of the SSIH Group (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère, which does not exist anymore today). So, Lemania–Lugrin SA built calibres 1200 and 2000, Omega owning a non-exclusive license for the production and the sale of those movements.
In Septembre 79, Bouchet-Lassale SA met some financial difficulties, and the production was stopped. In December of the same year, Claude Burkhalter, then the director of Lemania-Lugrin SA, declares during an internal meeting that « Omega has the possibility to buy the Jean Lassale brand ». But Jean Lassale is bought by Seiko, while the technical documents and the patents are bought by Claude Burkhalter, at the same time as he creates the company « Nouvelle Lemania SA ». Founded in 1982, this company will continue the activities of Lemania-Lugrin SA, and it will produce from the beginning the successors of the calibers 1200 and 2000 : the calibers 1210 and 2010 Lemania.
Those calibers will be sold exclusively to Piaget SA, as long as this company will stay independent. When Piaget went under the control of Cartier, this exclusivity was released, and Nouvelle Lemania SA could then sell the calibers to different watch companies, among them Vacheron Constantin.
At Vacheron, the Caliber 1200 is called 1160, and the automatic movement is called 1170.
The company Bouchet-Lassale filed some patents :
The Jean Lassale SA company was excluded from the Swiss Chamber of Commerce on 10 April 2006, following the bankruptcy that was declared by the Tribunal de Première Instance dated 23 June 2003.
The company’s last CEO was Mr Hagiwara Yasunori.
The calibre 1200, with its automatic version the Calibre 2000, were first presented at the Foire Internationale de l’Horlogerie in Basel in April 1976. This mechanical, handwound movement has a diameter of 20.4 mm, and a thickness of 1.2 mm. There is an automatic version which is 2.08 mm thick). It holds 14 ball-bearings. Each one uses 0.20 mm balls. These ball-bearings are inserted in a platine which is 1.2 mm thin. Its frequency is 21,600 Alt/H, and its power reserve is 35 hours. It has 11 jewels. The calibre 1200 (and its automatic version 2000) were built from 1976 to 1979 in the factory that the company Bouchet-Lassale SA had built on 30, rue des Voisins in Geneva, Switzerland. The gold cases came from the « Ateliers réunis », a company also located in Geneva.
The patent for this watch movement was applied in Switzerland on 1976, February 18. It was then applied in the USA on January 2, 1979 under the code US4132061A.
The Abstract of the patent is :
Robert Annen was a Swiss engineer who filed about 75 patents linked to horology and aeronautics, but not only. Some on his own name, some under the names of companies like “ROULEMENTS A BILLES MINIATURES”, “LOUIS MULLER ET CIE S A FABRIQUE”, “PARECHOC SA [CH] ; ROCHAT FRERES S A”.
For the company “ROULEMENTS A BILLES MINIATURES” (Miniature Ball Bearing), he applied 17 patents.
A list of his patents includes :