For the first time, a leading luxury watch brand has participated in “Fashion Week” (Sept. 15-19), the much-publicized twice-a-year event in New York City where top fashion houses and designers unveil their creations for the coming season to the press, apparel houses and manufacturers, and celebrities.

For two days, Jaeger LeCoultre, the 170-year-old Swiss brand, took over the penthouse of Bryant Park Hotel—a “command central” for the week’s fashion shows—and turned it into a mini-salon. On display were the company’s latest timepiece collections, including new men’s and women’s watches with straps and dials in hues consistent with the Spring 2004 fashion trends seen on Fashion Week runways. According to Jaeger LeCoultre spokespeople, those trends include “nostalgic patinas, summer yellows, sea blues, flesh tones, colorful exoticism, stylized butterflies, and smoothed leather.” The newest Jaeger LeCoultre timepieces were grouped under several themes, such as “All About Pink” (pink straps), “Sporty Charm” (military-style camouflage and green straps), and “Escape” (baby blue or cream colors).

In addition to watches mixing trendy and classic watch styling, Jaeger LeCoultre’s salon offered a variety of complimentary spa treatments such as manicures and pedicures to visitors wearied by the frenetic pace of the fashion shows. Visitors to the salon included fashion editors; TV journalists from CNN, CBS, MTV, and other networks; publicists and stylists for celebrities and TV shows; and Fern Mallis, executive director of “7th on 6th,” the official name of “Fashion Week.”

Jaeger LeCoultre watches are worn by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and in such shows and films as The Thomas Crown Affair (Pierce Brosnan), The Pianist (Adrien Brody), Sex and the City (Blair Underwood), and the upcoming film Birth (Nicole Kidman and Lauren Bacall). The brand probably is best-known for its classic signature “Reverso Collection,” which features a swiveling rectangular case, and its sophisticated “Master” watches. The firm also manufactures the smallest mechanical watch movement and the thinnest mechanical movement in the world. The watches are distributed by Jaeger LeCoultre USA, New York City.

JCK