Two legends of contemporary industrial design, Apple’s Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson, have sat down with Bono to organize a (RED) Auction dedicated to design excellence. The auction will take place at Sotheby’s New York on the 23rd of November and all proceeds will go towards The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Out of the 40 or more auction items, we’ll focus on two Jaeger-LeCoultre timepices that were customized by Jony and Marc, the Atmos 561 clock with unique red accents and a Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea watch, with a unique red dial and the (RED) logo engraved on the back.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea

Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea customized by Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson for a (RED) auction

Jaeger-LeCoultre chose to reinterpret this legendary timepiece specifically for the 2013 (RED)TM Auction, creating three pieces whose design remain faithful to the original Europe version of the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea but with a unique red dial. On the back of the watch, the (RED)TM logo is engraved.

In 1959, Jaeger-LeCoultre presented the Memovox Deep Sea watch, its very first automatic diver’s watch equipped with an alarm, of which there were two versions: one intended for European sports enthusiasts and the other for American divers. In 2011, in homage to its rich past and to the delight of fine watchmaking connoisseurs, the Manufacture paid tribute to this historical model with a limited series re-edition, the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea watch. Like the original, it came in a European and a US version. Equipped with a 40.5mm-diameter steel case and powered by the automatic Memovox Calibre 956, the 959-piece European version was distinguished by its black dial, while the 359-piece American version features a black/grey dial bearing the “LeCoultre” signature.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre’s legendary clock, a work of art that revisits the design’s source

Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos 561 by Marc Newson customized by Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson

A unique piece of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos 561 by Marc Newson has been customized by designers Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson on the occasion of the 2013 (RED)TM Auction. The clock features red accents on the hands, the month indication and the calibre’s logo. A (RED) TM and Marc Newson logo on the back and the inscription “Unique Piece” seal the unique collaboration between Jaeger-LeCoultre, (RED)TM and the designers.

Initially born in 2008 from a collaboration with Designer Marc Newson and the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Atmos 561 by Marc Newson has been catapulted into the ranks of today’s great design. While keeping the timeless classicism of the famous clock from 1928 and its quasi perpetual motion, Marc Newson went back to the source of design and conceived a refined and modern aesthetic. Surrounded by a transparent Baccarat crystal bubble, the Atmos clock reveals the hours and minutes, the months and the moon phase on two different rotating disks, and ultimately the number of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 561 that drives the clock.

Since 1928, the mechanism of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clock fascinates by its exceptional mode of operation with no battery, no electric current and no winding. It lives on air by means of an ingenious principle: a hermetically sealed capsule containing a mixture of gases that expands when the temperature rises and contracts when it drops. Connected to the mainspring of the clock, the capsule acts like a concertina or a pair of bellows, thereby constantly winding the mechanism. It is so sensitive that a one-degree temperature difference is enough to power it for 48 hours. Its balance oscillates just twice a minute rather than the average 300 times of a classic wristwatch, which consumes 250 times more energy than an Atmos clock.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea will be available to view at pre-auction exhibitions at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong and London;

Hong Kong Exhibition: October 3 – 7
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong

London Exhibition: October 12 – 20
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA UK

The Atmos 561 by Marc Newson will be available to view at Bergdorf Goodman in New York;

New York Exhibition: October 16 – November 11
Bergdorf Goodman, 5th Avenue at 58th Street, New York, NY 10019