Die-hard fans of Jaeger-LeCoultre will be au fait with Reverso Stories, the Grand Maison’s immersive and multisensory travelling exhibition that celebrates the 90th birthday of the iconic Reverso watch. Having so far set foot in the likes of Paris, Seoul and Shanghai, the show is notably themed around various facets, including the 1931 art deco café, complete with bespoke pastries inspired by ingredients local to the manufacture in the Vallée de Joux. There’s also Spacetime, an art installation by the American artist Michael Murphy, which brings visitors into a multifaceted larger-than-life artwork of a Reverso Tribute Nonantièm, where the three dimensions of space are juxtaposed against the fourth dimension of time. Then of course there are the historic pieces on show in this retrospective; the very first Reverso of 1931, the gorgeous grand feu enamelled Reverso Mucha (a tribute to the Czech artist Alfons Mucha) and 1994’s historic Duoface second-time zone Reverso, to name just a few.
The show has now landed in London, and should any JLC fans have any rumblings of feeling jaded by the Reverso theme, they’re in for a real treat. First off, the London pit-stop has the most pop-up feel yet: rather than housed in a luxury watch boutique or a Watches & Wonders kind of setting, the London show is set across three pod-like spaces in the heart of bustling Covent Garden. Add the holiday dates –15-24 December – and there’s the special magic of London at Christmastime, not to mention the bustling foot traffic and festive cheer. There’s even a bespoke art deco-style, gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Christmas tree presiding over the whole production, the vision of the lettering artist Alex Trochut.
Indeed its Trochut’s hand that makes the London exhibition truly unique. The Barcelona-born, New York-based typographer is the latest name in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Made of Makers programme – a cross-collaborative, cross-disciplinary initiative that sees the watchmaker entering into a dialogue with various artists, designers and craftsmen to push the boundaries of horology and art. For the maison, Trochut has created a special 1931 Alphabet that takes its cue from a kind of Fitzgeraldian New York – a time, he says, “when there were big changes in the 20th century, from Dada and constructivism to modernism. Everything was kind of exploding at that time and New York was at the epicentre of this moment.” The result is his dynamic and super graphic typography for Jaeger-LeCoultre that radiates a unique visual depth and identity – in part nodding to the lettering found on buildings and facades in New York City, in part the signature gadroons found on a Reverso case, punctuated with a subtle mechanic vibe.
Trochut’s striking 1931 Alphabet makes its way into the pop-up’s 1931 café and that glorious gold-tinged Christmas tree – but most significantly, can also be engraved onto a Reverso case as a special personalisation service being offered by the maison.
No stranger to collaborations – Gucci and culinary clients to tech companies have all been partners – Trochut says he most impressed and surprised by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s approach to, of all things, time.
“These guys do time, they sell time – but they don't care a lot about timing,” he recalls. “It was so nice to work in extended deadlines and having quality being the top priority – not the imperative immediacy of ‘we need it now’. It was very rewarding in that sense. The cooking was slow, which is always the food that tastes best.”
The grandson of a 1940s typographer who never quite fulfilled his artistic potential due to disruptive modern technologies, Trochut is notably cerebral about time, which he likens to being the master of us all.
“Time decides what's going to matter – whether your life is going to go this way or that. It’s really your timeline – something you don't control but which determines everything sometimes. Time is like this cosmic soup – which we’re just swimming in and hopefully navigating.”
And with his Jaeger-LeCoultre collaboration just kicking off, time will certainly set an exciting new direction for both makers.
