Watches & Wonders 2023: Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils three new Reverso Tribute models

Watches & Wonders 2023: Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils three new Reverso Tribute models

A resplendent marble temple, the famous Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 B.C. at the height of the ancient Greek Empire. The columns are slightly tapered to give the temple a symmetrical appearance. The corner columns are larger in diameter than the other columns. Incredibly, the Parthenon contains no straight lines and no right angles, a true feat of Greek architecture and an emblem from Antiquity of the Golden Ratio.

The Golden Ratio is a proportion that people find naturally pleasing; it is a unifying factor in works of art both natural and man-made. a special kind of relationship between two parts of something, where the ratio of the bigger part to the littler part is the same as the ratio of the bigger part to the whole.

Designed by Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1931, at the height of the Art Deco movement, the Reverso is a perfect embodiment of this principle. The original Reverso layout was inspired by the Golden Ratio and placed an emphasis on geometric patterns, rectilinear shapes, and clean lines. Nine decades have passed since the first Reverso case was introduced, and while many iterations have been presented, the original proportions have served as a bedrock for the collection, and the Golden Ratio has continued to define the Reverso’s design to this day.

At Watches and Wonders 2023, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces three new models to the Reverso Tribute collection: The Reverso Tribute Chronograph honours the ground-breaking Reverso Chronograph of 1996, reinventing it with the new Calibre 860, the  Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon presents the complication in an entirely new guise – as a flying tourbillon set within an ultra-thin Duoface movement and four new Reverso Tribute Small Seconds models introducing new dials to the collection.

All about the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute watches unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2023

Reverso Tribute Chronograph marries tradition with modern aesthetics

The Reverso Tribute Chronograph pays homage to the seminal Reverso Chronographe from 1996. With its baton hour markers, Dauphine hands, and peripheral chemin de fer minutes track, the watch’s front dial bears all of the hallmarks of the Reverso Tribute line. The sunray-brushed surface conceals the mechanical complexity that lies within; the presence of chronograph pushers on either side of the winding crown is the only hint that there is much more to this timepiece.

The Reverso Tribute Chronograph is available in steel and pink gold, with a blue-grey dial – a sophisticated colour achieved by the innovative ADL (atomic layer deposit) process which deposits ultra-thin layers of titanium oxide.

The beautifully crafted chronograph mechanism on the reverse side, a new fully integrated hand-wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 860 chronograph movement, is revealed when the watch case is turned over. An elegant and creative solution to the challenge of housing circular chronograph timing indications within a rectangular case, the dial is entirely skeletonised to highlight the fascinating animation of the chronograph and the full complexity of the movement, the bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève to create visual unity, and the chronograph seconds and minute tracks are highlighted in black to maximise legibility.

Reverso Tribute Chronograph Price & Specs
Case: 29.9 mm x 11.14 mm thick Pink Gold or steel with 30 meters water resistance
Movement: Manually-wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 860 with 52 hours power reserve
Price TBA

Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon in pink gold 

The Calibre 847, introduced in 2018, is a glorious expression of the Manufacture’s expertise in tourbillons, this time, introduced into the Duoface concept with its two dials presenting two different aesthetics, as well as a second time zone and a day-night indicator on the reverse dial.

To make this possible, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers had to completely rethink the tourbillon mechanism to reduce as much height as possible when adding a flying tourbillon with the Duoface complication. First, they did away with the upper bridge, to which the balance wheel is normally attached, and replaced the outer tourbillon cage with a ball-bearing system, attaching the balance wheel to the tourbillon’s center. The hairspring would normally be attached to the outer tourbillon cage, but in the absence of such a cage, a new solution was required. Hence, they invented (and patented) a unique S-shaped balance spring, with one end attached to a fixed point in the tourbillon mechanism and the other end attached to the balance wheel. The S-shape prevents the coils of the spring from touching and keeps the spring perfectly concentric to the tourbillon, which is critical for precision. The result is an ultra-thin hand-wound movement that is only 3.9mm thick.

The Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon has an elegant yet distinct presence on the wrist when the front dial is visible. The pared-down aesthetic and signature details of the Reverso Tribute dial exude refinement, capturing the spirit of early 1930s models; the faceted hour indexes are complemented by Dauphine hands and framed by a chemin de fer minute track.

The watch’s reverse dial has a much bolder personality, enhanced by partial skeletonisation and glorious decoration, including hand angling of the bridges. The second time zone is denoted by gold hands and indexes on a black sunray-brushed dial, and the night and day indicator features an exquisite starry night sky above the dial. Gold bridges are richly textured with Clous de Paris guilloché reminiscent of the 1993 Reverso Tourbillon.

Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon in pink gold Price & Specs

Case: 27.4 mm x 9.15 mm thick Pink Gold with 30 meters water resistance
Calibre: Manually-wound Calibe 847 with 38 hours power reserve
Price TBA

Reverso Tribute Small Seconds

The dials are sunray-brushed and executed in black, burgundy lacquer, and silver variations. The process of making these sunray dials is intricate and delicate – After galvanizing the dial base to give it a metallic sheen and protect the underlying brass from oxidation, a fine metal brush traces very fine, almost imperceptible lines on the surface in a sunray pattern that intersects at the precise center of the dial. This is what causes the dial’s distinctive coluor variation when light strikes it from different angles. Finally, the surface is varnished and polished to a smooth sheen, which enhances the subtly textured sunray effect. Lacquer dials use a different oven fired technique.

To achieve the utmost sophistication and refinement, the pink gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds has been significantly revised for 2023, with its thickness reduced by nearly 1mm to just 7.56mm.

Reverso Tribute Small Seconds Price and Specs

Case: 27.4 mm x 7.56mm thick Pink Gold with 30 meters water resistance
Calibre: Manually wound Calibre 822 with 42 hours power reserve
Price TBA

This story first appeared on Augustman Singapore