At Milan Design Week, just following Watches and Wonders, Jaeger-LeCoultre staged The Perpetual Timekeeper, a sprawling two-floor exhibition dedicated not to wristwatches, but to Atmos clocks—the mysterious, glass-encased objects that have quietly occupied one of the most intriguing corners of the maison’s history since 1928.

The fascination around Atmos comes from the clock’s improbable mechanics. Originally invented by Swiss engineer Jean-Léon Reutter in 1928, the Atmos operates using tiny fluctuations in air temperature. A change of just one degree Celsius can power roughly two days of operation, eliminating the need for winding or batteries. Even in today’s era of hyper-connected technology, it still feels faintly impossible.

For a brand best known today for icons like the Reverso, the exhibition made a compelling case that its Atmos is not merely a decorative side chapter. It remains one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most technically poetic achievements, and increasingly one of its richest canvases for decorative arts, sculptural experimentation and contemporary collaboration. In Milan, Jaeger-LeCoultre smartly avoided presenting the Atmos as a relic of engineering nostalgia. Instead, the exhibition positioned it as a living object—one that continues to evolve through contemporary collaborations and savoir-faire.

That approach was especially visible in the Marc Newson pieces. The Australian designer has worked with Jaeger-LeCoultre on Atmos reinterpretations since 2008, and the newest editions shown in Milan leaned into his signature futuristic minimalism without sacrificing the clock’s almost meditative presence. Displayed throughout Villa Mozart alongside Newson-designed furniture and objects, the clocks felt entirely at home within the broader creative context of Salone del Mobile.

“You feel the duty, because it is one thing to come into a maison born 193 years ago, and the Atmos clock 98 years ago, but it’s another thing to keep your relevance,” Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, told Robb Report on the responsibility of nurturing the brand’s many disciplines and métiers d’art. “And the maison has remained so genuine that it naturally attracts people like Marc and talents like we have in our workshop. It’s very hard to work for a genius maison—to be capable of being what you say you are, and to every day build along these elements.”

Walking through the exhibition in Milan felt less like touring a traditional horological showcase and more like entering a living archive. More than 30 Atmos clocks—including hand-painted vessels with miniature renderings of Klimt works and instruments encased in Baccarat crystal—spanning nine decades were presented alongside travel clocks, desk objects, heritage designs, and five newly unveiled creations, including the collaborations with Newson.

“The Atmos, being something that can live forever, I guess is a very interesting mental challenge for Marc,” Lambert shared. “There is a very strong motivation to interact with objects that will not be obsolete.” Just the night before toasting to the partnership over dinner, Newson noted that he felt proud that he got to work with an object that “will never end up in a pile of landfill”—something that can continue to be passed on with stories and emotion.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has discovered that its wristwatch client and Atmos client often complement each other—perhaps discovering the brand through one category before growing to appreciate the other. Both have earned cult followings, though the type of collector obsessed with acquiring these clocks may come as a surprise. Some proudly own assortments well into the double digits.

“We have a client that has a collection on one wall made of more than 50 Atmos,” Lambert shared. “He built a wall about ten meters tall in his house, and every single part holds an Atmos.” Lambert added that while the client is geographically challenging to get to, he still plans to pay him a visit.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has long treated its clocks not only as functional design objects, but also as creative laboratories. Throughout the 20th century, the maison embedded timekeeping into desk accessories, folding travel objects, architectural miniatures, and sculptural home pieces that reflected the aesthetics of their respective eras. Seen together, they reveal a playful and experimental side of the brand often overshadowed by its wristwatch output.