Almost a century ago, the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre crossed paths with that of photography.During the period between the two world wars, the Manufacture produced a camera that would remain unique in its kind: The Compass.
The avant-garde and astonishingly sophisticated Compass is a camera that has made an enduring mark on the history of photography thanks to its unique qualities.
Issued in a 4,000-piece limited series, it has become a collector’s delight since 1937. Thanks to Noel Pemberton Billing, one evening, in the late 1920s, this brilliant inventor made a bet that he could create a camera of unprecedented quality comprising every possible function and yet small enough to fit inside a cigarette packet!
To develop and produce such an object, he soon realised that he would need the help of a fully integrated watch Manufacture with proven mastery in the field of miniaturisation. Paying tribute to this heritage, Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils exclusive contemporary pictures taken by the Compass camera, as part of the exhibition “The Art of Behind the Scenes”, organized by Jaeger-LeCoultre in Cannes,the series of photographs includes black-and-white street scenes of New York, Paris, Shanghai and Venice.
