Jaeger-LeCoultre, a Swiss watchmaker, showcased its expertise in celestial complications with its exhibition, The Stellar Odyssey, which toured major cities around the world after debuting at Watches and Wonders in 2020. The exhibition was held from February 4-23, 2022, on a floating pavilion at the Dubai Fountains with the Burj Khalifa as its towering backdrop.
The exhibition explored astronomical-inspired watchmaking across eight distinct chapters, including the origins of time and the impact of celestial phenomena on the way we measure it. It showcased rare historic watches and timepieces from recent collections that demonstrated how Jaeger-LeCoultre continued to reinterpret the theme in its current novelties.
A geodesic dome in the main pavilion displayed five episodes of an immersive digital show that attempted to unravel the origins of our universe. Furthermore, Atelier d’Antoine, named after the Jaeger-LeCoultre’s founder Antoine LeCoultre, conducted hands-on workshops based on the themes of astronomical complications.
The exhibition was about more than just watches, as it also showcased the work of two artists: French multi-media artist Guillaume Marmin and mixologist Matthias Giroud. These two artists collaborated with Jaeger-LeCoultre as part of the latter’s Made of Makers programme, which works with artisans and artists outside the field of watchmaking.
Marmin created an entirely new chapter of his previous installation, Passengers, for The Stellar Odyssey. The second chapter, Passengers: Through Time, focused on celestial and astronomical observations, offering its visitors a chance to explore the links between time, space, and light set against the fascinating concept of the theory of relativity. Marmin’s installation consisted of a kinetic device within a walk-through capsule that offered up visual and sound cues as “passengers” questioned and understood the relationship between time and the cosmos.
Giroud created a special menu of original soft cocktails that were “inspired by the cosmos, taking his inspiration from the colours, temperatures and forms of the stars and planets, and blending familiar ingredients with intriguing scents and flavours from the Vallée de Joux.”
According to Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, “It is an important part of our mission at Jaeger-LeCoultre to share the secrets behind the art and craft of watchmaking with the wider world by bringing our manufacture from the Vallée de Joux to the public around the globe. The ancient cultures of the Middle East played a seminal role in the origins of time measurement, and we are therefore delighted that Dubai is where the world tour of The Stellar Odyssey makes its debut.”
The exhibition was kept relevant as it traveled around the world. Its visual and sound content was altered and aligned with the solar and lunar calendars, as well as the geographical coordinates of the exhibition’s location, to ensure the exhibition was tailored to that site.
