The thing about Jaeger-LeCoultre as a company is that they tend to be a fairly modest bunch. For example, this year is their 190th anniversary (Jaeger-LeCoultre was founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833), but you wouldn’t know it, because they aren’t talking about it. Jaeger-LeCoultre is like that guy in the office who comes to work on his birthday and no one has any clue until HR comes around to his desk with a card and $20 supermarket gift voucher. Well, I’m going to say something. Happy 190th anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and congratulations on the outstanding Reverso models released this year.
You may be asking, “What’s Suzanne talking about? What outstanding Reverso models released this year?” Good question; I got a little ahead of myself, but keep reading and you’ll find out.
Fans of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Art Deco flagship collection are going to have a blast this year, because La Grande Maison has restocked its treasure chest with Reverso creations for Watches And Wonders 2023. These range from immensely complex and highly decorated pieces such as the Reverso Hybris Artistica Cal. 179 to elegant and simple watches such as the Reverso Tribute Small Seconds. In other words, there’s something for you in the 2023 batch of Reverso launches, regardless of horological tastes or spending preferences.
The aforementioned Reverso Hybris Artistica Cal. 179 is — as the name indicates — part of the collection at Jaeger-LeCoultre that prioritises haut-de-gamme decorative savoir-faire. The Hybris Artistica watches are not really a counterpart to the ultra-complicated Hybris Mechanica watches, since they both have plenty of movements in common. The difference comes down to the values emphasised; the Hybris Artistica watches may be as complicated as the Hybris Mechanica watches, but the proper focus of the former collection is artisanal rather than mechanical technique. You guys remember the Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon from 2016? Stunning watch that showed just how compactly you could make one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s famous multi-axis tourbillons, even when it was fitted with a hemispherical hairspring. That’s the movement in the Reverso Hybris Artistica Cal. 179, now further enhanced by skeletonising, lacquerwork and micro-bead blasting.
My favourite of all the new Reverso pieces at Watches And Wonders 2023, however, is the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon, a deceptively understated name (there’s that classic Jaeger-LeCoultre modesty again). My dear WorldTempus family, this is not any old tourbillon, the kind of tourbillon that Jaeger-LeCoultre pretty much mastered years ago as an in-house speciality. This is the flying tourbillon with flying balance that was premiered in the Hybris Mechanica 11 nine years ago and hasn’t been seen since. It’s not exactly the same, because improvements have been made (obviously), but essentially the concept is the same, and it’s as fascinating as it was when it was launched at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in 2014. The new flying tourbillon with flying balance is more open and transparent than ever, with better levels of precision thanks to modifications in the balance fine-adjustment system and a new hairspring terminal curve.
Take it from me — don’t dismiss Reverso Tribute Chronograph just because of its minimalist time-only recto dial. Turn the watch over to reveal its complicated verso dial, with a large central chronograph seconds hand and a space-saving retrograde chronograph minutes counter. The exposed column wheel is a particularly nice touch if you’re a mechanical nerd like me, whose brain gets a special tingle just by watching the chronograph in action.
A trio of Reverso pieces focusing on handcrafts comes next — the two models of the slim-dimensioned Reverso One with hand-painted enamel casebacks (in various shades of blue or green) and the Reverso Secret Necklace, designed to be worn as a piece of jewellery.
Finally, we see new models of the Reverso Tribute Small Seconds, featuring elegant sunray-finished dials that highlight the perfection of form in the rectilinear Reverso case design. No one will be surprised by this, but I adore the version with burgundy red dial. The richness of the colour harmonises exceptionally well with the rose-gold case, and possesses a luxurious sensuality that I believe exists in only the finest timepieces. That’s right, I said “finest”. Not the most expensive; not the most complicated; not the most technically impressive. The finest.
What do you think of the new Reverso watches of Jaeger-LeCoultre at Watches And Wonders 2023? Some of you might be thinking that the 2021 Reverso Quadriptyque blows every single one of these new pieces out of the water, and you’d be right. It does. But the Quadriptyque was never meant to be a watch that your average buyer could get their hands on. It was amazing and groundbreaking in so many ways, but also hyper-exclusive and out of reach. On its 190th anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre made a range of watches that every single one of us could enjoy, and that was absolutely the right thing to do. In my opinion anyway, that’s the best kind of birthday party — the kind that’s fun for everyone.
