This lovely LeCoultre travel alarm clock has a wonderful backstory! In 1833, Antoine LeCoultre (1803-1881) founded a small watchmaking workshop in Le Sentier, France, where high-quality timepieces were created. In 1866, at a time when watchmaking skills were divided up among hundreds of small workshops, Antoine and his son, Elie LeCoultre (1842-1917), established the Vallée de Joux’s first full-fledged manufacture, LeCoultre & Cie where they developed in 1870 the first partially mechanized production processes for complicated movements. From 1902 and for the next 30 years, LeCoultre & Cie produced most of the movement blanks for Patek Philippe of Geneva.
In 1907, French jeweler Cartier, one of Jaeger’s clients, signed a contract with the Parisian watchmaker under which all Jaeger movements for a period of fifteen years would be exclusive to Cartier. The movements were produced by LeCoultre. The collaboration between Jaeger and LeCoultre led to the company being officially renamed Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1937. This wonderful clock winds and keeps time, however the stem for the alarm is missing so it should be serviced. It is copper clad with wear, and there is no mold or discoloration under the glass. Most likely from the early to mid 1930s.