Jaeger-LeCoultre Introduce Master Ultra Thin Moon in Pink Gold & Blue

‘Tis almost the party season and, along with updating your dinner jacket and reminding yourself how to tie a bow tie, that means finding a dress watch to match. While there’s certainly no shortage of them around – the archetype’s relatively unchanged since the 20s – most recent ones we’ve covered have been a little ornate or colourful, like Etien’s T02 or Garrick’s S5 Moon Phase. For pure, sleek elegance however, you could do a lot worse than the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon in pink gold & blue.

The new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon is classical watchmaking in the most traditional sense, a svelte, gold number perfectly suited to glamorous, champagne soaked evenings. That pink gold is perfectly paired with a gradient blue dial. It’s lovely and a relatively subtle gradient, ranging from midnight blue on the periphery to just a couple touches lighter at the middle and in lower light you’re not going to see a big change.

To match the case, the slim, sharp, elegant indexes and handset are in the same pink gold. The focal point however is the moon phase at 6 o’clock, a mirror-polished disc with a golden moon and stars. There are a good number of moon phase indicators these days – with more to come, most likely – but this is one of the best-looking out there. I’m happy that this year Jaeger-LeCoultre have stepped back from their whole celestial theme, but this just goes to show how well they do it.

The moon phase also doubles as a peripheral date indicator thanks to the central hand, making it a rare small date subdial. It condenses the watch’s only non-time indicators into one, keeping things as svelte as possible.

At 39mm of rose gold it’s slightly larger than you might expect for a dress watch, which typically wear a lot smaller than your everyday beaters; 36-38mm are pretty standard for the genre. But there’s a reason for the roomier dial as a good chunk of it is taken up by the eponymous moon phase at 6 o’clock. That said, it’s also incredibly thin at just 9.3mm, perfect for slipping under a shirtsleeve, exactly what you want for a more formal piece.

Inside is the Calibre 925, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest-generation automatic movement. That means 70-hours of power reserve and the kind of finishing you’d expect from a watchmaker like Jaeger-LeCoultre.

While you might not want to invest too much in a daily wearer that’s going to go through the bumps and knocks of everyday life, a dress watch is different. Sure, there are accessible dress watches, but it’s the kind of timepiece you want to make a show of – and £22,000 is definitely a show. With its innate elegance and mix of pink gold and gradient blue, you could do a lot worse than the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Moon.