Jaeger LeCoultre Master Reveil, ca. 2004
I first fell in love with the Master Reveil when I started collecting watches, around 2001, but it took me until 2010 to finally get my hands on one. JLC made these in pretty limited numbers - my research indicates that they probably released fewer that 5000 of this model across it's 9-year production run - so it took a lot of saving and a lot of searching. When I finally managed to acquire one in August 2010, I worried that it might not hold up to the hype I'd built up in the past decade, but I'm happy to report that it has.
I've often been been asked what watch I'd wear if I could only wear one for the rest of my life, and the Master Reveil has been the answer almost since I first discovered it. My interests in watches is primarily on alarms, and to my mind the Master Reveil represents the finest implementation of that function. The 918 movement is directly descended from the 489 movement that JLC first introduced with the Memovox in 1950, beginning a tradition of alarm watches within their lineup. Though the 489 was by no means the first alarm movement, it's one of the classics in the alarm-watch world, and for good reason.
The alarm itself has the nicest sound of any I've heard, owing to the specially-designed bronze-alloy gong wound around the caseback that the alarm hammer strikes against.
The stainless case measures 39mm across, just about the perfect size as far as I'm concerned. Because of the automatic movement and the gong, it's relatively but not obtrusively thick at 14mm.
It's interesting to note where JLC has gone in the years since discontinuing this model. As a company, they were always known for the kind of understated elegance shown in this model. Around 2004, when they took the Master Reveil off their roster, they started moving away from that tradition in several of their lines, most notably the sports-oriented Master Compressor series. While the new lines may have suited the market's demand for bigger, louder, more bombastic, some critics, myself included, felt that the brand was abandoning its roots for a momentary market trend, and pointed to the discontinuation of this model as evidence.
Only recently have they added a classically-styled alarm back to their lineup, with the introduction of the Master Memovox. I've yet to have the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison, but from pictures, I actually prefer my version.