Jaeger-LeCoultre pieces customized by Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson

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October 2nd, 2013 - New York

Jaeger-LeCoultre pieces customized by 
Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson go under the hammer at (RED) AUCTION on November 23rd 

Two of the world’s foremost design pioneers, Sir Jonathan Ive, KBE, and Marc Newson, CBE, have collaborated with musician and philanthropist Bono to organize a (RED) Auction celebrating the very best of design and innovation. Jony and Marc have spent the past year and a half curating the collection, which comprises objects from disciplines as diverse as space travel and lighting design to contemporary art and rare automobiles, all unified and distinguished by their excellence and innovation. Proceeds from the 23 November 2013 sale at Sotheby’s New York will benefit The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 

The auction will feature icons of design selected by Jony and Marc and works that were personally customized by the pair, including a custom Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos 561 clock with unique red accents created for the (RED) Auction, and a Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea watch which has been customized with a unique red dial and the (RED) logo engraved on the back of the watch. 

"It's been a thrilling journey for Jony and me to curate this collection of pieces that celebrate extraordinary design that we love, that transcends all boundaries of time and place. Each object and the process of creating it conveys a rich set of human values, so it seems fitting that they should be auctioned with a different sense of human value in mind, to raise as much as possible to help people's lives today," said Marc Newson. “We'd like to thank our partners for their sincere generosity and for giving so gladly and willingly.” 

“This is a great honour for Jaeger-LeCoultre to be part of this global project in association with Sotheby’s and support a true sustainable cause (RED) has been fighting for since 2006. Calling upon the Manufacture’s creativity and watchmaking savoir-faire, reinterpreting two of our iconic timepieces with the recognition of two great names of Design has been even more thrilling”, said Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Daniel Riedo. 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea 

Jaeger-LeCoultre chose to reinterpret this legendary timepiece specifically for the 2013 (RED)TM Auction, creating three pieces whose design remain faithful to the original Europe version of the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea but with a unique red dial. On the back of the watch, the (RED)TM logo is engraved. 

In 1959, Jaeger-LeCoultre presented the Memovox Deep Sea watch, its very first automatic diver’s watch equipped with an alarm, of which there were two versions: one intended for European sports 

enthusiasts and the other for American divers. In 2011, in homage to its rich past and to the delight of fine watchmaking connoisseurs, the Manufacture paid tribute to this historical model with a limited series re-edition, the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea watch. Like the original, it came in a European and a US version. Equipped with a 40.5mm-diameter steel case and powered by the automatic Memovox Calibre 956, the 959-piece European version was distinguished by its black dial, while the 359-piece American version features a black/grey dial bearing the “LeCoultre” signature. 

The Jaeger-LeCoultre’s legendary clock, a work of art that revisits the design’s source 

A unique piece of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos 561 by Marc Newson has been customized by designers Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson on the occasion of the 2013 (RED)TM Auction. The clock features red accents on the hands, the month indication and the calibre’s logo. A (RED) TM and Marc Newson logo on the back and the inscription “Unique Piece” seal the unique collaboration between Jaeger-LeCoultre, (RED)TM and the designers. 

Initially born in 2008 from a collaboration with Designer Marc Newson and the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Atmos 561 by Marc Newson has been catapulted into the ranks of today’s great design. While keeping the timeless classicism of the famous clock from 1928 and its quasi perpetual motion, Marc Newson went back to the source of design and conceived a refined and modern aesthetic. Surrounded by a transparent Baccarat crystal bubble, the Atmos clock reveals the hours and minutes, the months and the moon phase on two different rotating disks, and ultimately the number of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 561 that drives the clock. 

Since 1928, the mechanism of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clock fascinates by its exceptional mode of operation with no battery, no electric current and no winding. It lives on air by means of an ingenious principle: a hermetically sealed capsule containing a mixture of gases that expands when the temperature rises and contracts when it drops. Connected to the mainspring of the clock, the capsule acts like a concertina or a pair of bellows, thereby constantly winding the mechanism. It is so sensitive that a one-degree temperature difference is enough to power it for 48 hours. Its balance oscillates just twice a minute rather than the average 300 times of a classic wristwatch, which consumes 250 times more energy than an Atmos clock. 

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea will be available to view at pre-auction exhibitions at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong and London; 

Hong Kong Exhibition: October 3 – 7 
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong 
London Exhibition: October 12 - 20 
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA UK 

The Atmos 561 by Marc Newson will be available to view at Bergdorf Goodman in New York; 

New York Exhibition: October 16 – November 11 
Bergdorf Goodman, 5th Avenue at 58th Street, New York, NY 10019 
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