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As part of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Made of Makers programme, the artist has created a new Art Deco-inspired alphabet style for the maison
The worlds of art and horology have long been intertwined, and Jaeger-LeCoultre often embraces this relationship in its timepieces, activities and collaborations. This year, the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer is setting out to further explore and extend the dialogue that exists between art and horology through its new Made of Makers programme, which aims to bring together a community of artists, designers and craftsmen from various disciplines outside of watchmaking.
Having previously collaborated with other creatives like pastry chef Nina Métayer, mixologist Matthias Giroud and multimedia artist Guillaume Marmin, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s intention for the new programme is to work with similarly high-calibre creators who share the maison’s fundamental values of creativity, expertise and precision. The practitioners it collaborates with will be those whose work explore new forms of expression through different, and often unexpected, materials and media.
For its inaugural Made of Makers project, Jaeger-LeCoultre chose to work with Spanish lettering artist, Alex Trochut, who created a new Art Deco-inspired alphabet style for the maison.
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Born in Barcelona and based in New York, Trochut has worked with brands like Gucci and created album covers for Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones. For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the artist created a representation of La Grande Maison’s values through a bold, contemporary alphabet style—the 1931 Alphabet. He looked to Art Deco for inspiration, a style that remains prominent in the landscape of New York and that is of great importance to Jaeger-LeCoultre as the origin of the Reverso wristwatch.
The choice of Art Deco is also incredibly significant for the values it upholds. Back in the 1920s and ’30s, Art Deco was progressive, optimistic and forward thinking for its time, expressing the extraordinary spirit of modernity that swept the world. There was also a fascination for technology and tremendous creative energy that characterised the movement, which Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to identify with.
The new 1931 Alphabet that Trochut has created for Jaeger-LeCoultre is a modern addition to the maison’s visual identity. In a sharp and contemporary take on Art Deco, each letter has a distinctive sculptural quality and strong sense of visual depth, while also conveying a sense of dynamism and movement. As a result, it is equally expressive in two-dimensional form and as three-dimensional objects.
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