F1 season beckons, and our September print issue will feature motoring related horology that will satisfy our motorhead readers out there. Before it hits the newsstands, here’s the Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX2 Transponder mechanical and electronic hybrid watch to whet your appetite.

The AMVOX2 Transponder is the latest product from Jaeger-LeCoultre’s partnership with Aston Martin, with previous iterations including the AMVOX DBS Transponder and AMVOX2 Rapide Transponder. Unlike its predecessors, however, the AMVOX2 Transponder is compatible with any model of Aston Martin currently in production. Essentially, this watch is capable of communicating with your Aston Martin from a distance to operate the latter’s locks and headlights. Take note though, that ignition keys are still needed to operate the automobile, ostensibly for added security – the AMVOX2 Transponder is an add-on and not a replacement for your actual car ‘keys’.To fulfil this function, the watch has a micro-transmitter within its case, with a very interesting antenna implementation. Notice the grey arc that runs from eight o’clock clockwise to four o’clock in the picture above? That’s the antenna! Although it looks superimposed onto the dial’s chapter ring, it actually lies on the underside of the crystal, and was applied there using PVD.

Novel electronics design aside, the AMVOX 2 Transponder has a few tricks up its sleeve for its mechanical components. In lieu of traditional pushers, the watch’s chronograph functions are actually accessed through the sapphire crystal. A lever on the left of the watch case keeps the crystal locked in a neutral position when the chronograph is not in use. When unlocked, the entire sapphire crystal can pivot in a see-saw motion relative to the dial. Pressing down on the crystal at 12 o’clock is analogous to operating the usual pusher at two o’clock – the chronograph starts and stops accordingly. Pushing down the crystal at six o’clock resets the chronograph, just like the traditional pusher at four o’clock. The counters measuring elapsed minutes and hours are also uncommon, albeit not unique to Jaeger-LeCoultre. Instead of sub-dials with moving hands, the ‘sub-dials’ here are discs that rotate, and are read off stationary triangle markers in red. The central chronograph seconds hand is in red as well, to distinguish between chronograph and normal timekeeping functions. In lieu small seconds in a tri-compax chronograph layout, a discreet spinning logo at six o’clock makes a complete rotation once a minute to indicate that the watch is running.

The AMVOX2 Transponder is driven by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s self-winding Calibre 751E, which runs at 28,800vph for 65 hours on a full power reserve. The chronograph function is column wheel driven and has a vertical clutch.