After 90 years from the invention of the first ever Reverso: JLC wanted to celebrate the history of this timepiece with the creation of a brand new version: the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso: a century of history
To talk about this new masterpiece we must proceed step by step and we will therefore start from the beginning to go deep into the story of one of the most iconic models in watchmaking.
When we consider the broad family of watches, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind, experts and less competent, is its primary function as a timekeeper. Our story begun there: a narrative made up of expert watchmakers who did not settle at that simple, albeit complex, function but rather went further, embracing the grand complications’ watchmaking.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new interpretation of grand complications arose with the endeavor of Jaeger-LeCoultre: the Reverso. The watch was designed for accommodating the polo players’ needs who were eager to take advantage of a timepiece capable of withstanding the brutal clashes that their sport entail. Nonetheless, not solely the latter peculiarity, but furthermore the astonishing ability to entail and combine Art Deco shapes, the simplicity behind a marvelous intuition and the timeless elegance of a folding box model, the Reverso has become one of the most remarkable icon of all times.
From ’91 to 2001: the Golden Age of the Reverso di Jaeger-LeCoultre
The Maison pursued the project for sixty years, introducing new aesthetic alternatives to the watch model yet never affecting its intrinsic essence.
In 1991, the Swiss house was ready to exhibit the first heir to its iconic watch: the Reverso Soixantième. The launch of the Soixantième marks the rebirth of complications’ watchmaking: a Reverso endorsing a power reserve, and both date display window as well as case back in sapphire crystal.
Successively, the awe-inspiring watchmakers company established an ambitious goal: to create six new models within the following decade, each embedding one of the traditional magnificent complications. The first was the Tourbillon that came to light in 1993, the prime of its kind with the Tourbillon Manufacture. The following year was the turn of the Répétition Minutes in which the Maison introduced a miniature version of the minute repeater for wristwatches, granting the recognition of the world’s first rectangular minute repeater movement.
Further, in 1996, with the Chronographe Rétrogade, Jaeger-LeCoultre accomplished to solve the positioning of the chronograph counters within the rectangular profile.
In 1998 the brand introduced the Géographique, and further, with the advent of the new millennium, the magnificent Quantièem Perpétuel.
Eventually, in 2001, with the presentation of the Septantième, it led to the accomplishment of Maison’s ambitious decade: an ambitious Caliber 879 that granted a power reserve of 192 hours, totalizing a substantial eight days of usage for its lucky owner.
90 Years later: the Reverso Tribute Nonantième
For nine decades, the Reverso has reinvented itself and enriched its collection with unique complications. It has endorsed more than 50 different Calibers, changing and researching new materials, decorations, engravings, and enamels for its opposite side. This journey of continuous watchmaking research of grand complications brings us up to nowadays.
After a ninety-year journey made of experimentation, development, and remarkable achievements, we are in 2021. I am pleased to report the last episode to date in this story: the Reverso Tribute Nonantième, reference Q711252J, available in only 190 copies.
This marvelous hand-wound timepiece is composed of 230 components. Developed on a Caliber 826, it can count on a power reserve of 42 hours and water resistance up to 30 meters. It represents both simplicity and style: with its rose gold front case, silver dial with a refined satin soleil finish, crowned by golden indexes and Dauphine’s hands. The small seconds counter contains the moon phases; further below 12 o’clock, we find a large date window, framed by applied lines in rose gold to recall the visionary rectangular complication of the house.
Nonetheless, its uniqueness has yet to be told, and it is here that it may be found the most significant expression of complication. By reversing the dial over, we find its counterpart, like the sun for the moon: two circles with different diameters, positioned on the pink gold case back, resembling the shape of an eight.
On the top, it is displayed the semi-jumping digital hour indication. On the broader opening below, a rotating disc allows the display of hours and minutes, partially hidden by a blue patina with a golden storm of stars that recall the night sky; additionally, a sun and a moon intended to fly over the horizon, mark the horizon alternation between day and night. To complete the rearview, we can admire the JL logo in soleil motif, recalling the watch crown.
The Reverso Tribute Nonantième is the accurate representation of a modern soul; it clearly displays how the Maison has always found the incentive and intuition to reinvent itself; improving, yet remain firm to a precise identity.
Author: Andrea Parodi
Translator: Andrea Solinas
