It’s not every day that a new mountain is charted and conquered, especially in such a fabled range as the majestic Himalaya in Nepal. However, this is just what has been accomplished by three intrepid mountaineers who received the support of prestigious Swiss watch manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre. The party, consisting of Swiss climber Stephane Schaffter, 19-time Everest veteran Apa Sherpa, and Little Karim–another expert of mountains towering past the death zone–followed a meticulous ascent plan and successfully attained the challenging 6,589-meter peak, all while facing constant avalanche threats and a heavily snowed base camp. As a tribute to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s involvement with the adventure, the mountain has received the official title of “Antoine LeCoultre’s Peak”.

Jaeger-LeCoultre watches were worn by all three climbers, and gave a flawless performance. Interestingly, the timepieces selected to represent the house came from different eras: one of the men wore a Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Chronometer from 1958, a classic three-handed wristwatch with an anti-magnetic stainless steel case and luminous hour and minute hands. Stephane Schaffter wore the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Extreme LAB timepiece, a highly acclaimed and technically exclusive model with a tourbillon introduced in 2007. The Extreme LAB presents a medley of highly technical constructive and horological elements including a titanium case, a tourbillon cage in magnesium alloy, and a mechanism which has been designed to operate free of lubricant.

The third watch used during the ascent of Antoine LeCoultre’s Peak is a closely guarded secret of the house. According to a Jaeger-LeCoultre press statement, it is new model in the final stages of refinement and will be introduced in January, at the 2010 SIHH industry exhibition in Geneva.

Source: ViaLuxe