This Clock Doesn’t Need Batteries. Just a Breeze
At Milan Design Week 2025, the Swiss watch house Jaeger-LeCoultre dropped a horological flex that doesn’t tick from your wrist but from your living room, the Atmos Infinite Halo. A mechanical clock that runs on air? Yes, really.
The Atmos isn’t new. JLC has been making these since 1928 when Swiss engineer Jean-Léon Reutter first created a clock powered by mercury reacting to temperature changes. It was never meant for commercial production, but the concept stuck.
Since then, over half a million Atmos clocks have been made, each with its own technical evolution. But this Jaeger-LeCoultre hits different.
Encased in a seamless bell jar-inspired glass dome, the Atmos Infinite Halo blends the architecture of the early Atmos models with the floating mechanics of the 1970s Atmos Jubilee.
The result is something between a kinetic sculpture and a design object. It offers a full 360-degree view of the movement — normally hidden on a wristwatch — putting the brand’s most ornate craftsmanship on display.
The lacquered dial takes ten layers to complete. The polished hands curve dramatically across the convex face, while the outer ring is detailed with sharp minute markers. The entire thing looks like it belongs in a Bond villain’s lair or maybe just your dream apartment.
It runs without batteries, winding, or solar power, just a tiny gas capsule that responds to temperature changes, where a one-degree shift keeps the clock ticking for two days.
Only 100 pieces will be made, priced at $20,000. And if you’re deep in the horology game (or know someone who is), this is the kind of timekeeping flex you bring to a birthday, not a new leather watch strap.
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