found Patek Phillipe in deep financial trouble and looking for r

    The following year, 1932, found Patek Phillipe in deep financial trouble and looking for relief. LeCoultre, who had close ties with the company, proposed purchasing a majority interest. However, when the arrangement was close to being finalised, the Stern brothers - whose company manufactured the dials for Patek Phillipe - made a counter-offer that the management of Patek could not refuse. The Stern family took control of the company and have owned it since. In an ironic twist, Richemont (the owners of the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre) bought Stern Creations S.A. in Geneva, Stern Manufacture and Stern Appliques in La Chaux-de-Fonds in June of 2000.

    The Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre continued to prosper through the '40s and '50s. The company introduced the Memovox, Futurematic, Geomatic, and Geophysic watches. The Atmos and Baguette clocks. The remarkable Compass camera. It also continued to produce peerless ebauche for the other Swiss houses. It is also during this time that Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin developed close ties. The two companies, through the ownership and management of George Ketterer, began an arrangement whereby Jaeger-LeCoultre provided the movements and Vacheron Constantin became an etablisseur , or a compiler and marketer of watches. This relationship ends in 1965 when George Ketterer moved entirely to Vacheron Constantin , severing his ties with LeCoultre and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

    The Master Control 1000 Hours series, introduced in 1992 with the Grande Taille, is tested for an astonishing 1000 hours - while it is in the case, with its hands and dial installed - far outstripping the COSC requirements. The classic watches of the Manufacture were redesigned and tested to fit the classic 1950s aesthetic and 1000 Hours promise. Memovox, Reveil, Reserve de Marche, Moon, Date and Ultra Thin all become part of the Master line.