During Milan Design Week this April, Jaeger-LeCoultre invites the public to experience “The Perpetual Timekeeper”, an immersive exhibition exploring the ongoing relationship between design and everyday life through objects that mark time minute by minute, day after day. The exhibition traces the evolving style of timekeeping, highlights the extraordinary one-of-a-kind Atmos clock, introduces five exceptional new creations and presents a curated selection of heritage watchmaking objects. The project also pays tribute to the Maison’s long-standing creative collaboration with acclaimed industrial designer Marc Newson, which began in 2008. Alongside the latest horological novelties, the exhibition also features a selection of his iconic design pieces. “The Perpetual Timekeeper” will be open to the public free of charge from 21 to 26 April 2026 at Villa Mozart, in the historic centre of Milan.
THE ART OF TIME BEYOND THE WRIST
For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the art of horology extends far beyond the wristwatch. Since 1833, the Maison has built its identity on mastery of calibres and mechanical precision. As the 20th century brought profound social, technological and stylistic change, this expertise expanded into a wide range of timekeeping objects, including Atmos, where technical ingenuity and design culture come together.
A STORY TOLD IN SIX CHAPTERS
“The Perpetual Timekeeper” takes visitors on a narrative journey through the story of Atmos while also showcasing Jaeger-LeCoultre’s rich creative and technical heritage across a broad range of timekeeping objects.
CHAPTER I: ATMOS, THE STORY
The dream of perpetual motion has fascinated humanity for centuries, embodying the desire to master time, energy and autonomy. That ambition took a decisive step forward in 1928, when Swiss radiological engineer Jean-Léon Reutter developed the prototype of a clock that came closer than any previous mechanism to perpetual operation. Thus, Atmos 0 was born — powered not by winding or any conventional energy source, but by slight variations in air temperature, introducing a revolutionary concept of autonomous timekeeping.
The earliest commercial versions revealed technical limitations, yet the invention’s promise was immediately clear. Jacques-David LeCoultre understood that such a brilliant idea would require the highest level of watchmaking expertise to become fully reliable. Recognising both its poetic power and its mechanical value, he invited Reutter to collaborate with LeCoultre & Cie, creating a partnership between visionary invention and fine watchmaking know-how.
Through refinements to the mechanism and major improvements in reliability, this collaboration led to the creation of Atmos I in 1932, a model defined by its apparent perpetual motion: in principle, it could run indefinitely with minimal outside input, provided the ambient temperature continued to fluctuate.
Until 1938, the earliest Atmos models used a mercury-driven motor block based on communicating vessels, where thermal expansion and contraction powered the movement. Mercury’s fragility, however, made transport difficult and limited overall reliability. In response, LeCoultre introduced a gas-filled capsule containing ethyl chloride and centralised production, while initially retaining the same mechanical principle, known as Calibre 30A, used in Atmos I and II.
Powered solely by subtle variations in ambient temperature, the system is able to convert a change of just 1°C into around 48 hours of autonomy, enabling the clock to function without manual intervention.
Soon adopted as a diplomatic gift and nicknamed the “President’s Clock,” today’s Atmos Classic stands as its most dignified heir, preserving the design codes that made it a symbol of prestige, continuity and enduring precision.
CHAPTER II: ATMOS, THE MÉTIERS RARES™
With its intricate mechanism and the hypnotic rhythm of its annular balance wheel, Atmos transcends its function as a timekeeper to become a true objet d’art. Rooted in the elegant minimalism of its Art Deco origins yet constantly reinterpreted, it offers a natural canvas for artistic expression.
Usually displayed beneath a glass dome or in a crystal cabinet, the Atmos movement has developed a strong visual identity over time, celebrated as much as the time it measures. Since the 1970s, Jaeger-LeCoultre has revived the spirit of aesthetic experimentation that characterised the early decades of Atmos. Collaborations with masters of decorative arts and leading contemporary designers have transformed Atmos into a work of art while preserving its unmistakable identity.
CHAPTER III: ATMOS, THE COMPLICATIONS
The almost magical way Atmos works is also its greatest limitation: the mechanism produces an extremely small amount of energy and leaves very little available for additional functions. The exhibition explains how Jaeger-LeCoultre engineers overcame this challenge in 1982 with Calibre 540, making complications possible with only an infinitesimal increase in energy consumption.
Recognising that the most suitable complications were those linked to the slow cycles of astronomical phenomena — such as moon phases and the seasons — the Maison developed the first moon-phase Atmos at the end of the 1990s. In 2022, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers created the most complex Atmos ever conceived: Atmos Hybris Mechanica Calibre 590, known as Atmos Tellurium, which incorporates a contemporary version of the Renaissance tellurions that reproduce the true cycles of the Earth, Sun and Moon.
CHAPTER IV: CLOCKS, THE WATCHMAKING OBJECTS
In the 1920s, personal access to time remained limited, and the timepiece was still an object reserved for a privileged few. Jaeger-LeCoultre reimagined the concept of the clock by integrating it into the objects of daily and professional life. Desk accessories, lamps and architectural miniatures thus acquired the ability to measure and display time.
By embedding timekeeping functions into useful and familiar objects, the Maison blurred the line between practicality and high watchmaking, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary through imaginative design and meticulous craftsmanship. Designed to integrate naturally into interiors, these objects were often surprising in form — refined yet playful — created to be handled, used, placed on a tabletop, read from both sides or carried along with their owner.
CHAPTER V: CLOCKS, THE TRAVEL OBJECTS
As the 20th century progressed and modern life became increasingly defined by mobility, Jaeger-LeCoultre transformed the clock into a portable object designed to accompany its owner wherever the journey might lead. The result was a series of nomadic timekeepers that combined technical expertise, aesthetic elegance and creativity, sometimes enriched with functions such as a barometer or thermometer.
From the 1930s onwards, travel clocks perfectly embodied this vision: miniaturised and integrated into mirrors, leather cases or folding table clocks, they united mechanical reliability with practical design. With the introduction of the Memovox mechanical alarm in 1950, time was no longer simply displayed — it became an active signal able to guide, alert and reassure.
CHAPTER VI: CLOCKS, THE DESIGN OBJECTS
From the 1920s onwards, social, economic and technological change generated an extraordinary burst of creative energy, expressed through a new design language that shaped every aspect of life: architecture, graphics, transport, domestic products and industrial machinery. Clocks were no exception, and Jaeger-LeCoultre fully embraced the spirit of modernity by rethinking both form and the display of time.
Clocks thus became surprising, playful and at times provocative objects — expressive creations designed as much as style statements as instruments for telling the time. From Art Deco models to the bold graphic compositions of the 1960s, each piece reflects a dialogue between watchmaking expertise and the spirit of its era. Mechanical precision remains essential, yet it opens the door to new freedoms in interpretation, form, material and proportion.
EXCLUSIVE NOVELTIES: THREE MARC NEWSON CREATIONS AND TWO EXCEPTIONAL ATMOS PIECES
The collaboration between Jaeger-LeCoultre and Marc Newson continues in the spirit of experimentation. Since 2008, the Maison and the designer have joined expertise and creative vision to produce new interpretations of Atmos, which Newson describes as a “complex and magical object.” After Calibre 561 in 2008, Calibre 566 in 2010 and the first version of Calibre 568 in 2016, the partnership now enters a new chapter.
During “The Perpetual Timekeeper,” Jaeger-LeCoultre will unveil three new Marc Newson creations, alongside a curated selection of his most iconic furniture pieces: a new version of Atmos Tellurium, a new interpretation of Atmos Calibre 568, and a Travel Clock inspired by the Maison’s legendary Memovox wristwatches.
The exhibition also serves as a celebration of exceptional craftsmanship. The preservation and transmission of traditional decorative arts — widely used in watchmaking until the late 19th century and later partly forgotten — has long been a core value for Jaeger-LeCoultre. Through its in-house Métiers Rares™ atelier, the Maison continues to preserve and renew these skills by applying them to contemporary creations.
To underline this artisanal heritage, the exhibition will also present two new Atmos models: one dedicated to Grand Feu enamel miniature painting, the other to traditional wood marquetry.
An exclusive Milan Design Week exhibition, “The Perpetual Timekeeper” expresses a vision of time that brings together science, function and art. Atmos and the other watchmaking objects on display create a coherent universe in which design, mechanics and human invention shape a concept of time that is enduring, thoughtful and deeply connected to the contemporary world.
“The Perpetual Timekeeper” will run from 21 to 26 April 2026 at Villa Mozart, Via Mozart 9, 20122 Milan, open daily from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm, with free admission. Visitors may register online in advance or upon arrival at the exhibition.
