The brand opens its first Salone del Mobile show focused on nine decades of temperature-powered clocks
Jaeger-LeCoultre has shifted its focus from Geneva to Milan for its latest exhibition, presenting a historical overview of its Atmos clock at Salone del Mobile. Titled “Living on Air,” the brand’s first major showcase at the design fair runs through Sunday at Villa Mozart.
While the recent Watches and Wonders event in Geneva highlighted wristwatches, the Milan exhibit centers on clocks—specifically the Atmos, introduced in 1928. Designed to run for up to 1,000 years, the Atmos operates through a self-winding mechanism powered by small fluctuations in air temperature and pressure.
The presentation includes 19 Atmos clocks spanning over nine decades of production. It also features archival materials, technical drawings, and a demonstration station where a watchmaker shows how the mechanism converts ambient thermal energy into mechanical movement.
The newest addition to the Atmos family, the Infinite Halo, is on display as a limited-edition release. The brand explains that the clock’s power comes from a hermetically sealed, gas-filled capsule linked to a drive spring by a membrane. As external temperature changes, the gas volume shifts, causing the membrane to expand and contract and in turn wind the clock.
Jaeger-LeCoultre began working with external designers on Atmos reinterpretations in the 1970s. Among the models on display are Atmos 561, 566, and 568—each part of an ongoing collaboration with industrial designer Marc Newson that began in 2008.
Speaking at the exhibition, CEO Jérôme Lambert emphasized the importance of attending the Salone. “We switched off Geneva, and we switched on Milano,” said Lambert. “We traveled to Italy to showcase the future of fine watchmaking through another angle.”
“This clock was invented in 1928 and is still completely unique. We’ve had the most amazing creators in world reinvent it,” he continued.
Lambert also recalled presenting Queen Elizabeth II with a Millennial Atmos clock during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. “She was the only person who ever asked me, ‘What will you do in 1,000 years’ time when the dial is [obsolete]?’” Lambert said. He admitted he didn’t have an answer, but appreciated the perspective. “I guess that if you’re part of a monarchy with a very long history, you are always projecting into the far future.”
