Jaeger-LeCoultre’s New Dragon-Themed Watch is Fire
Dragons are a recurring feature in some of the modern world’s most popular stories, from prestige TV blockbusters like Game of Thrones (and its even more dragon-centric spinoff, House of the Dragon) to literary classics like Lord of the Rings (as well as its respective spinoff Rings of Power), but the human fascination with these mythical creatures goes back much further. Dragons, it turns out, are a common feature of ancient mythology around the world, from Egypt to China to Northern Europe. It’s hard to say exactly what it is about dragons that makes them so universally fascinating, but their power in popular culture doesn’t appear to be waning. The new limited-edition Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 ‘Dragon’ is Swiss luxury watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre’s spectacular contribution to the genre.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the world’s oldest and most respected high-end watchmakers, with a collection that combines classic 20th-century designs like the Reverso with ornate examples of 19th-century handcrafts. The new Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 ‘Dragon’ is very much the second type of watch, with a pink gold case engraved with dragon scales, a pair of ornately-carved pink gold dragons that circle its dial, and a movement combining a zodiacal calendar, a celestial flying tourbillon, and a chiming minute repeater.




Based on the Calibre 945 created in 2010, the new watch is a reminder of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s capabilities in the field of celestial complications. Celestial time, also known as sidereal time, is the science of using the movement of the stars to mark the passage of time and is one of the oldest methods of timekeeping. The Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 ‘Dragon’ pays homage to this ancient study with a celestial vault displaying the Northern Hemisphere night sky as seen from the 46th parallel — the latitude of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s manufacture in the Vallée de Joux — and allowing the wearer to track the position of the constellations in real-time. This function is complemented by a matt black sandblasted disc decorated with tiny stars, and a sun-shaped gold pointer indicating the months and date of the zodiacal calendar.
At the heart of the watch is Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Cosmotourbillon, a constantly spinning technical feat that makes a complete counter-clockwise circuit of the dial over one sidereal day. Unlike a 24-hour day as measured in solar civil time, a sidereal day lasts 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds, and is defined by Earth’s rotation measured in relation to more distant fixed stars, rather than by Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

The watch also features a minute-repeater complication, a set of tiny hammers, and crystal gongs that can sound the hours and minutes on command. It’s perhaps the most elevated complication in traditional watchmaking and makes a suitably over-the-top addition to a timepiece that’s intended for the world’s most elite collectors. With only five pieces being produced, it’s also almost as rare as the mythological creatures that inspired it.
Discover the Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 ‘Dragon’ by Jaeger-LeCoultre.