Watch making is a painstakingly precise art that requires, at the best of times, heroic patience. At the same time, horology is a fascinating study in mechanical engineering, not to mention the joy of combining complex building blocks to a specific end. Perfect stuff, then, for a video game.
Watchmaker: Jaeger Le-Coultre’s application is free to download.
Swiss brand Jaeger-LeCoultre agrees. Its new application for the iPhone is part-game and part-brochure, an application that lets you explore the brand’s diverse catalogue, as well as take initiation lessons in the art of watch making. Once convinced of your skill (there are six tutorial classes), it lets you drag, drop and slide across the screen to assemble a watch yourself.
The actions are accurate and indicative of how a real-world watch is assembled—putting together a chronograph mechanism (dragging components in their right place), decorating and jewelling a movement (scratching and smudging the right areas of the screen) and polishing, engraving and gem-setting a case. There are even record tables, challenges and a scalable difficulty for those in a video-game mood.
“We felt that for a brand like Jaeger-LeCoultre, our customers get very involved in the product. They discuss their buys, and their knowledge is very in-depth,” says Tarun Sharma, country head, India, Jaeger-LeCoultre. “We felt this was a good platform for watch-lovers. We could impart knowledge, showcase the complexity of our products, perhaps even answer the question of why watches are so expensive.”
Video games, says Sharma, are now seen as legitimate brand extensions. “If movies and franchises can have video-game versions of their products, we asked, why not us?” he says.
The application also offers access to an online catalogue of at least 60 watches,
including eight interactive models from among the company’s signature creations. These eight can also be test-driven, with the application explaining salient features like an electronic salesperson. It also imparts random bits of bizarre trivia—how to change the depth gauge of the Master Compressor Diving Pro Geographic, for example, or changing the time zone on a Master Geographic. The application also provides information on Jaeger-LeCoultre points of sale in the country and/or a city of your choice.
To download, press the App Store icon on the iPhone menu. Search for “Jaeger” and select the “Jaeger-LeCoultre” application. Press “Free” and then “Download”. Once the installation is complete, press the “Jaeger-LeC.” icon on the iPhone menu to start.