Press release
Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ © Jaeger-LeCoultre
Behind every creation lies the human hand, without which there would be no passion. I alone can combine intuition with expertise, awareness and enchantment. It alone masters the exact technical or aesthetic detail that will transform the object into a unique masterpiece.
Since 1833, this concern for detail has been the driving force behind the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, of which the artisans and master-watchmakers combine age-old techniques with the latest technological breakthroughs in creating the finest timepieces. Ranking among the most precious of these skills, even the most ancient decorative arts hold no secrets for the Grande Maison in the Vallée de Joux. Enamelling, engraving and gem-setting are three of the virtuoso crafts that it associates at will within its horological and artistic creations, and which it fully masters beneath its own roof.
Artistic crafts dedicated to the iconic Reverso
The Reverso watch is unique. Over the years, it has managed to appear in new guiseswithout ever losing its soul. Today, wearing a Reverso from the contemporary collections draws the owner into an exclusive world – that of watchmaking history, but also and above all into the sphere of technical perfection and aesthetic refinement. The Reverso watches presented in the 2012 collection express a vision of time through a triptych offering three entrancing means of savouring each passing hour.
The Grande Reverso Blue Enamel provides enamelling with a stage worthy of its art, set against a finely guilloché backdrop inviting its owner to have the solid case-back engraved with a personalised motif. The Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ reveals the intricacies of its manually openworked, chased and engraved movement. The Grande Reverso Calendar welcomes a new complication into the movement, escorted by a traditionally crafted guilloché motif.
Grande Reverso Blue Enamel
Blue. Infinitely blue. The Grande Reverso Blue Enamel draws the gaze towards the ocean depths of its Grand Feu enamel dial. It reveals a pure and timeless face entirely in line with the spirit of a now legendary collection.
Crafted in the finest traditions of enamelling, an art with ancient roots, its enamelled white gold dial has undergone around 20 firings in the oven at 800°C in order to achieve this electric blue shade vying with the azure hue of the heavens. The last layer of translucent enamel endows it with exceptional purity and brilliance destined to serenely stand the test of time. This hand-crafted feat is further highlighted by a handguilloché motif created prior to the enamelling. The raised pattern elegantly spreading out from the centre depicts a veil of clouds floating across the sky of the dial.
Creating a striking contrast, the hours are enhanced by white gold numerals, swept over by elegant baton-shaped hands. The latter move to the unfailingly precise rhythm of the mechanical manually-wound movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822, entirely crafted, assembled and decorated by hand within the Grande Maison. Oscillating at a rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour, it has a 45-hour power reserve. The polished white gold case features a satin-brushed outer carrier adorned with discreetly understated finishing. The Grande Reverso Blue Enamel is issued in a 50-piece limited edition and offers its owner the privilege of having its second face adorned with a personalised engraving.
Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ © Jaeger-LeCoultre
Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ openworked movement
A steel labyrinth; a timepiece with two finely crafted faces. The Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Squelette lends its dual nature to the ancestral art of openworking, thereby serving as the emissary of an artistic and technical expertise mastered by only a very few watch manufacturers.
Entirely openworked and decorated by hand, the mechanical movement reveals its wheel-trains fascinatingly interwoven according to a purposefully created design that leaves nothing to chance. The artisan has patiently removed material using the blade of a small saw in order to reduce the mechanism to bare essentials, while nonetheless ensuring its flawless reliability. All the sides have been individually hand-drawn, chamfered, polished, chased and engraved. Blued screws are dotted across this delicate lacework, while the jewels are there as a reminder that this is a first-rate mechanical manually-wound movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 849RSQ. The latter has become a legend because of its exceptional qualities including a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour and an ultra-thin 1.85 mm thickness comprising 128 parts. Its extremely slender architecture calls for exceptional machining precision, while its openworking adds to the complexity of the task and represents an impressive accomplishment.
In order to honour this exquisitely meticulous work, the white gold dial is framed by finely engraved arabesques, accompanied on the front by a blue-tinted translucent enamel coating echoing the traditional colour of the blued hands. Issued in a 50-piece limited edition, the Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ radiates emblematic Art Deco lines and peerless finesse highlighted by rare forms of craftsmanship inherited from the past and handed down from generation to generation within the Manufacture.
Grande Reverso Calendar
A steel or pink gold case surrounds the silver-toned dial. The traditional finishing accentuates the geometrical shape of the collection, enhancing the classically understated stage set for a distinctive horological complication.
The watch indicates the day and month on respective discs appearing through two apertures at 12 o'clock, along with the date at 6 o'clock encircling the moon phases. The traditional arrangement of the conventional time indication via central hour and minute hands is focused on essentials and on ensuring optimal readability. The vertical satin-brushed dial finish frames a hand-guilloché motif reminiscent of pocket-watches.
The case-back reveals the mechanical manually-wound movement, Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 843, and its noble finishing. Its architecture is distinguished by a rigorous and well-ordered structure subtly echoing the artistic period when the collection was created. Vertical Côtes de Genève emphasise its geometrical sophistication and serve as a visual reminder that time, even when clothed in all its finery, will forever remain both rational and disciplined.
Jaeger-LeCoultre has been perpetuating for almost 180 years an approach to horology bearing a noble pedigree written with diamond file and brush, burnisher and guilloché lathe or “rose engine”. Among the forty or so hand-made crafts exercised in its workshops, those of engraving, enamelling, openworking and guilloché working take centre-stage at the 2012 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. These rare crafts have made their way through the years while losing nothing of their intrinsic human and cultural value. The new Reverso models turn the spotlight on the masterful gestures of the artisans, perfectly matched by the perfection of a tried and trusted mechanism. These splendid embodiments of human creativity all display, each in their own unique way, an anthology of the artistic talents faithfully exercised within the Manufacture.
Grande Reverso Blue Enamel: technical characteristics
Movement :
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822
• 21,600 vibrations per hour
• 21 jewels
• 134 parts
Functions :
• hours, minutes
• approx. 45-hour power reserve
Dial:
• guilloché white gold
• electric blue Grand Feu enamel
Hands:
• hours and minutes; baton-shaped hands
Crown:
• 1 crown to adjust the hours and minutes
Case:
• 18-carat white gold
• dimensions: 48,5 x 30 mm
• thickness: 10.24 mm
• polished with satin-brushed outer carrier
• water resistance: 3 bar
Strap and buckle:
• Venice blue alligator leather
• high-end pin buckle
Reference:
• Q373 35 E1
Grande Reverso Ultra Thin SQ: technical characteristics
Movement:
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 849RSQ
• 21,600 vibrations per hour
• 19 jewels
• 128 parts
Functions:
• hours, minutes
• approx. 35-hour power reserve
Dial:
• front: white gold with translucent blue enamel coating
• back: white gold
Hands:
• hours and minutes; baton-shaped hands
Crown:
• 1 crown to adjust the hours and minutes
Case:
• 18-carat white gold
• dimensions: 46 x 27 mm
• thickness: 7.27 mm
• polished with satin-brushed outer carrier
• water resistance: 3 bar
Strap and buckle:
• Venice blue alligator leather
• high-end pin buckle
Reference:
• Q278 35 40
Grande Reverso Calendar: technical characteristics
Movement:
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 843
• 21,600 vibrations per hour
• 21 jewels
• Thickness: 4.29 mm
Functions:
• hours, minutes, days, months, date, moon phase
• approx.. 45-hour power reserve
Dial:
• silver-toned
• exterior: vertical satin-brushed
• interior: guilloché
Hands:
• hours and minutes ; baton-shaped hands
Crown:
• 1 crown to adjust the hours, minutes and day
• 3 correctors to adjust the date, the month and the moon phase
Case:
• steel or 18-carat pink gold
• dimensions: 48.5 x 29.5 mm
• thickness: 10.24 mm
• polished with satin-brushed outer carrier
• water resistant: 3 bar
Strap and buckle/clasp
• pink gold: leather bracelet and standard pin buckle
• steel: leather strap with triple-blade folding clasp
Reference:
• Q375 25 20
• Q375 84 20
