A watchmaker that no longer films its movements but rather the anticipation leading up to the moment: that’s the story behind the launch of *The Hour Before*. In it, Jaeger-LeCoultre invites its ambassadors to reflect on that one minute when nothing was yet certain. A bet on the invisible, at a time when the luxury industry is struggling to inspire dreams with the image of the finished product alone.
The quarterly series selects its subjects from among the House’s Friends and Ambassadors—artists, athletes, and actors—to film them in settings that evoke their respective fields, offering a glimpse into a side of themselves they don’t usually show anyone. Lenny Kravitz, who has served as the House’s global ambassador for several years, is one of its earliest figures.
An ambassador who has never needed to rely on just one profession
What makes this choice logical has less to do with the musician’s fame than with the trajectory of his career. Four Grammy Awards, twelve albums that have sold fifty million copies, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded in 2024: these are the hallmarks of an established artist. But at the same time, Kravitz has built a design firm, Kravitz Design Inc., which has designed hotels and private residences and collaborated with Rolex, Leica, and Dom Pérignon—all brands whose commitment to craftsmanship aligns with that which Jaeger-LeCoultre upholds for itself. In 2022, he launched Nocheluna Sotol, a spirit distilled from the sotol plant native to Chihuahua. He is the author of a photography book, *Flash*, and a memoir, *Let Love Rule*, a New York Times bestseller. He has also acted, playing the role of Cinna in the first two installments of *The Hunger Games*, and making cameos in *Precious* and *The Butler*.
This accumulation is not a list of awards to be cited in a caption. It paints a clear picture: that of an ambassador whose value to a watchmaker no longer lies in his face but in the repeated proof that he knows how to start over, discipline after discipline. It is this logic of starting over—more than fame itself—that *The Hour Before* seeks to capture on film.
A year chosen, not endured
The timeline further supports this point. Kravitz is releasing Blue Electric Light On May 24, 2024, he extended his residency at Park MGM in Las Vegas through August 2025 and went on to headline the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Shaky Knees, and the Evolution Festival—three venues with distinct audiences and musical roots. As early as 2023, Road to Freedom, written for the Netflix movie Rustin, earned him a Golden Globe nomination; the following year, the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video and the title of Fashion Icon awarded by the CFDA confirmed that he was making his mark in both the music and fashion worlds. At the same time, he was serving as an ambassador for YSL Beauty. He is, therefore, not an artist brought in for a one-off publicity stunt, but a man for whom 2025 marks a measurable high point—which gives concrete meaning to the idea of filming, in retrospect, the hour that preceded it.
The description replaces the technical data sheet
This move is not an isolated one. For several seasons now, watchmakers have been shifting away from a purely product-focused approach toward formats that highlight the craftsmanship rather than the finished object—a way of responding to an audience that is wary of empty promises and demands, instead, a demonstration. Jaeger-LeCoultre, which has billed itself as the “Watchmaker’s Watchmaker” since its establishment in the Vallée de Joux in 1833, has a unique selling point for this shift: its own history is already one of invisible craftsmanship, carried out in a workshop closed to the public, the results of which can only be seen on the wrist.
By choosing to film the preparation rather than the performance, the Manufacture is not merely promoting its ambassadors—it is extending, beyond the workshop, the message it has upheld for nearly two centuries within its walls: that excellence is forged over time and out of sight, before it is revealed.
Details
Founded in the Vallée de Joux in 1833, Jaeger-LeCoultre boasts more than 1,400 different calibers and over 430 patents filed since its inception, produced by 180 different crafts all under one roof.
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