Has anyone taken one of the guided "Factory Experience" tours at Jaeger-LeCoultre?

[Mendota]

While I have been patiently (and now rather impatiently) waiting over the last 18 months for my privilege to spend my hard earned money on a Rolex Sub, other brands are very eagerly emailing me information and reaching out to welcome me into their stores to come experience their products.

Probably the nicest messaging has been from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Today they sent me an email just saying they appreciate me being interested in their products and that if I have any questions I am welcome to call them at their toll free number or I am welcome to stop into any of their boutiques and authorized dealers to see and experience what they have. I get nothing like that from Rolex, by the way.

A few weeks ago I received an email from JLC about their new factory experience tours at their HQ in Switzerland, where you can sign up to take an "Experience" guided tour that allows you to get hands on with various aspects of the design or build process, in addition to a more traditional tour of the facility. Each experience tour has a different theme to it and some are longer than others. The longest of these are 3 hour experiences where after the regular tour the facility, you then spend the afternoon with the designers, or spend the afternoon with the Atmos Clock folks, or spend the afternoon with other departments that are of interest to you. Maybe you really like the dials and hands and you want to see how they create and finish the dials. Or maybe you are fascinated by movements and you want to see how they assemble the movements from the various parts. There are many more themed experiences and you can do any or all of these if you are staying there long enough.

They will even help you arrange accommodations nearby if you like.

It sounds pretty cool and I think it's great that they are so open to allowing their customers to come visit and experience their passion for watchmaking and the art and precision of it. JLC clearly wants me to become a lifelong customer and supporter of their brand.

Has anyone had a chance to take a tour or do one of these guided experiences yet?

[PhilLynott]

Sounds amazing what a great idea by JLC

[Spartan2009]

I love JLC as a brand and a Duometre is on my list of watches to collect. I’ve been on a factory tour for FPJ while in Geneva and I really enjoyed it. Got to spend time with their various watch makers and I got to see an Astronomic being built with a red gold case (lucky fella who got that approved). If you are in Switzerland I highly encourage you to take the tour. You might see some amazing and rare time pieces

[Aplover5]

That green-dial Polaris is a beauty! Thanks for the post makes really take a harder look at their products.

[KBM]

In these times we live in, it's easy to forget that the brand needs to feel approachable and create an engaging experience to draw collectors. Well done, JLC.

[lovehasaghetto]

I've been receiving the same email the past few months (purchased 2 reverso's the past year and on a waiting list for another), unfortunately I'm not vaccinated so I'm not sure how that will be handled. JLC is my favorite brand next to Rolex. I purchased Omegas for family members and they will invite you to events as well. Rolex would never do either, they make a great watch but their customer service doesn't compare.

[enjoythemusic]

Sounds incredible... or like a Time Share thing. ;)

Go for it, should be lottsa fun.

[Mendota]

What funny timing. I just got another email this evening and they are calling them Masterclasses. They actually teach you how to do these incredible things.

Here's the link to the page on the website that goes into more detail about each class.

I'm super impressed. What an amazing opportunity to spend time with these highly respected watchmakers. JLC just seems to be operating at such a higher level of appreciation and respect for the customer. They know that their clientele is interested in this type of experience. I know I would definitely be interested this the next time I'm in Switzerland. I'm already looking at pizza and pasta making classes for next year in Italy.

https://online-booking.jaeger-lecoultre.com/domaine

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[Uppersouth]

Originally Posted by lovehasaghetto

I've been receiving the same email the past few months (purchased 2 reverso's the past year and on a waiting list for another), unfortunately I'm not vaccinated so I'm not sure how that will be handled. JLC is my favorite brand next to Rolex. I purchased Omegas for family members and they will invite you to events as well. Rolex would never do either, they make a great watch but their customer service doesn't compare.

Was just in Italy, France and Switzerland. Although fully vaccinated with card in my passport, I was never asked to show anything. Book that trip!

[espressojoe]

I worked in Switzerland from 1999 through 2000. I had the chance to spent a lot of time at watch retailers and visited the headquarters of a few manufacturers. While I met a lot of great people, the JLC staff and management were the nicest people I had the chance to spend time with.

If this trip is a sensible opportunity, you really should go.

[Nathan_]

Some brands just do it better than others!

I've seen a few on YouTube and enjoyed watching from a far - in person would really tickle the taste buds!