Cover Tatler attended the opening of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Valley of Inventions exhibition in Shanghai on September 9 & 10 (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
Tatler attended the opening of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Valley of Inventions exhibition in Shanghai on September 9 & 10 (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
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From an ice-sculpted pine tree to a front-row seat at Eric Chou’s live set, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Shanghai takeover was an explosion of sensations. Tatler went behind the scenes, with global ambassadors IU, Kim Woo-bin, Zhang Ziyi and Jackson Yee in tow
There are watch launches, and then there is what Jaeger-LeCoultre just pulled off in Shanghai. Tatler was invited to the maison's private opening of The Valley of Inventions, a two-day immersion into the brand’s 193-year history, staged at Zhangyuan, one of the city’s most storied compounds, ahead of the exhibition’s public opening on September 10. It was an event built for maximalists—a specially commissioned ice-sculpted pine tree served as the centrepiece of the welcome installation—and the guest list read like a highlight reel of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s global ambassador roster.
Vallée de Joux—the remote Swiss valley where Antoine LeCoultre founded the manufacture in 1833—brought its story to Shanghai, complete with the artisans, archives and ambassadors. Over two days, Tatler traced the throughline from 19th-century Huguenot ingenuity to the watchmaking house now known as The Watchmaker of Watchmakers, and came away with a rare, on-the-ground look at how a heritage maison translates 190-plus years of precision into an experience built for a new generation of collectors.
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IU (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
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Taking place along Zhangyuan’s historic lanes, The Valley of Inventions unpacks Jaeger-LeCoultre's mastery of precision through four chapters: Precision and Chronometry, Precision and Tourbillon, Precision and Multi-Axis Tourbillons, and Precision and Complications, each anchored by a milestone calibre, from the 19th-century marine chronometer pocket watches and the aviation-ready Geophysic to the 2004 Gyrotourbillon 1 and its 2026 descendant, the Master Hybris Inventiva Gyrotourbillon à Stratosphère. A hands-on HPG Laboratory let visitors run a watch through the simulated shock, altitude and temperature tests behind the brand’s new High Precision Guarantee seal, while a series of live demonstrations—hand-bevelling, enamelling, perlage, and the assembly of a Master Control Chronometre movement—gave a rare, up-close look at the maison’s master artisans at work.
Elsewhere, a gallery devoted to Atmos clocks, including engineer Marc Newson's Memovox Travel Clock, first launched at this year’s Milan Design Week, felt like a true cabinet of curiosities. A dedicated Collectibles space showcased emblematic mid-20th-century vintage models, and a room for the feminine Vallée des Merveilles capsule sat alongside the Asian debut of the Reverso Tribute Enamel “Turner” series.
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Inside Jaeger-LeCoultre's Shanghai exhibition, The Valley of Inventions (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
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The private opening drew a line-up of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Global Ambassadors—K-pop star IU, Chinese screen star Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actor and singer Jackson Yee and South Korean actor Kim Woo-bin—alongside Chinese actor Arthur Chen, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Eric Chou and Olympic champion speed skater Ning Zhongyan. Tatler secured face time with both Kim and IU, where conversation turned to the pull of the Vallée de Joux story and what precision means to each of them personally.
If the exhibition supplied the intellect, Chou supplied the emotion. His live set—an intimate, largely acoustic affair—had a room full of watch collectors and industry insiders reaching for their phones mid-ballad.
The following morning, Tatler attended a Precision Discovery Workshop hosted by the Atelier d'Antoine. Under the guidance of a Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmaker, guests tried their hand at a genuine watchmaking skill, a humbling, magnifying-loupe-and-tweezers exercise that reframes everything you thought you knew about telling the time.
Between the ice sculpture, the ambassadors and the ten new limited-edition timepieces that enjoyed their global debut at the occasion—including fresh takes on the Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945, a one-of-a-kind Duomètre Grande Complication à Grande Sonnerie and the 101 Secrets high jewellery watch featuring the world's smallest rectangular manual-winding movement—The Valley of Inventions is as much a statement of intent as it is an exhibition, and totally worth the 48-hour flying visit to Shanghai.
As Content Director at Tatler Hong Kong, Tara shapes the brand's editorial vision across social, digital and print. She also drives the planning and execution of Tatler's flagship IPs. In her dual role as Head of VIP, she reports on Asia's most influential figures — from CEOs and leaders across business, style and the arts — curates star-studded events, and builds the relationships and communities that define the brand. Born and raised in the Middle East, she honed her craft in Dubai, crafting communication strategies for luxury brands across the Gulf. Follow her on Instagram @tarasobti.
