This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s flagship Reverso collection, presenting an unmissable opportunity to present various special edition releases. The watch industry rarely lets such an opportunity pass, and true to form, this year has seen a handful of special releases of the Reverso, including the mind-blowing Reverso Hybris-Mechanica Quadriptyque with no less than four face displays (read more about this here), and also some colourful tribute to 1931 editions of Reverso available in red, green and blue.
In addition to these was the announcement of the 190 piece Reverso Tribute Nonantième (where nonantième is the French word for ninetieth).
Before delving into the Nonantième, let’s take a (very) quick look at the story of the Reverso collection.
The Reverso Story
An original 1931 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
The story behind Jaeger-LeCoultre’s signature Reverso collection is a well-known one. Arguably the world’s first “sports watch”, it was first created in 1931 after British Army Officers based in India found that their watches were getting damaged during Polo matches. The Reverso was the answer to the challenge set of creating a watch that was able to withstand the impact of a Polo mallet strike, introducing a watch with a reversible body and a steel back face, which served to protect the watch dial during a match.
The original design of the Reverso was heavily influenced by Art Deco, and the Reverso was nearly consigned to the history books as it was withdrawn from production during the 1950s as the popularity of Art Deco dwindled, and by 1958 the Reverso was no longer a part of the Jaeger-LeCoultre collection.
In 1972, a collector of the Reverso persuaded Jaeger-LeCoultre to fit the remaining rectangular cases with watch movements. These were hugely successful and soon sold out, and this benchmark along with the quartz crisis in the 1980s prompted Jaeger-LeCoultre to reconsider the retirement of the Reverso. Soon after – thankfully – they brought it back into the fold, and by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 150th anniversary in 1983, the Reverso was available once more.
In 1991, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre released the first Reverso with a complication other than the time, with an asymmetric dial and the inclusion of both a power reserve indication and date pointer on the front dial, and another first with the inclusion of a sapphire caseback on the reverse side, showing off calibre 824 made from solid gold.
A further 5 such limited editions followed suit in the 1990s, including a minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, and retrograde chronograph – each incredible feats of watchmaking with a rectangular watch movement designed and built just for these releases.
Since its rebirth, the Reverso has never looked back and today it is more popular than ever. For anybody who is particularly interested in learning more about the Reverso and its history, this year also saw the publication of a magnificent coffee table book by Nicholas Foulkes, published by Assouline books which is well worth checking out – available here (affiliate link).
Anyway, all that being said, let’s get into the reason you’re reading – the Reverso Tribute Nonantième.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième
A few weeks ago during a visit to Harrods, I got speaking with one of the attendants about Jaeger-LeCoultre watches, and she was kind enough to let me know that a couple of weeks later they were due to have a model of the Reverso Tribute Nonantième coming in for a couple of weeks to be able to view.
In reference to one of my articles from a few weeks ago, it is this type of opportunity that only really comes from visiting watch boutiques and retailers and taking the time to speak with the attendants (unless of course you time your visits extremely well!) and is one of the biggest pros of the watch boutique experience, and one of the main reasons I love visiting.
Anyway, a couple of weeks later and I re-visited Harrods to see the watch. My first impressions were as I expected they would be from the photos I had seen – objectively, it is absolutely stunning.
Front side dial of the Reverso Tribute Nonantième
From the front side of the dial, as with the previous pink gold limited editions with hidden complications, there is nothing immediately obvious that gives away this piece as a special edition watch; an Art Deco aesthetic with a sunburst effect silver dial, ‘tribute’ batons for hour markers, grande date display at 12 o’clock, and moonphase complication within the small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock are reminiscent of the Reverso Tribute Duoface Calendar (although the day and month are swapped out for the grande date).
It is testament to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s attention to detail that the finish of the moon on the moonphase complication is even done to match the actual surface of the moon.
Reverse side dial of the Reverso Tribute Nonantième
The reverse dial is far and away the star of the show, unique amongst its peers. We find a rounded display against a gold rectangular background, which creates a decorative focal point, to which the complications are almost secondary. The unused space creates a feature of the polished gold face of the reverse side, which both compliments and is complimented by the luxurious deep blue lacquer finish, completed by the manufacture’s artisanal Atelier des Métiers Rares. This plate is adorned with golden stars and an engraved Jaeger-LeCoultre “JL” logo against a little guilloche pattern, which immediately takes centre stage when you first lay eyes on it.
A supporting cast of complications reiterate the prominence of the deep blue. The display at the top of the bridge is a semi-jumping hours display (“semi-jumping” as it perhaps a little disappointingly, but equally forgivably, not an instantaneous switch) and below it, a disc-based minutes display which rotates hourly with the current time indicated by a small gold indicator at the 6 o’clock position. For each of these complications, the base disc is white with a black font, which ensures the complications play second fiddle – at least visually – to the blue and gold. There is also a day-night indication in the centre of this bridge, which looks beautiful when framed by the blue lacquer.
On my wrist it was quite large, perhaps unsurprising given it is one of the larger Reversos with case dimensions of 49.4mm x 29.9mm, and 11.72mm thick. This is the same size as the Duoface Calendar but a little larger than a Duoface small seconds at 47mm x 28.3mm.
I think ultimately it was too large for my personal taste, but for anyone with perhaps a bigger wrist, or who is comfortable wearing a Duoface Calendar, it would be perfect. The watch is rated to 30m water resistance, and given the slim likelihood of anyone wearing this anywhere near a shower or swimming pool I think this is more than reasonable.
Inside the watch is Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 826, hidden from view by necessity owing to the Duoface nature of the watch. This calibre is an evolution of the mainstay Reverso calibre, the 822, however it is a brand new, hand-wound movement developed specifically for this watch to include the semi-jumping hours, minutes disc and day-night indication on the reverse, and the grande date on the front side dial.
Not to be confused with a dual-time watch, the time display is the same on both the front and back of the dial so setting the time on the front side dial will simultaneously set it for the reverse side dial.
The movement comprises 230 individual components with a single barrel, which when fully wound offers up to 42 hours of power reserve, so you would be well advised to give this a wind each day to ensure it doesn’t run out in the middle of the day.
In Summary
My first take on this watch was that it looked absolutely beautiful, especially with the reverse side dial on display, and after having had a much closer look, that opinion hasn’t changed at all. The Reverso is a watch with an undoubtedly classical appeal, and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième offers two completely different styles which both achieve this in completely different ways.
The front side dial offers a traditional Reverso style, whereas the reverse side is very much off the beaten path. I think that it is the elegant framing of the digital semi-jumping hour complication using traditional decorative techniques on the bridge, completed by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Atelier des Métiers Rares, all serves to ensure the Reverso Tribute Nonantième doesn’t stray far from the ethos of the Reverso.
Whilst it might be a little large for me personally, I think this watch is executed to perfection, and there will be 190 collectors who will no doubt be extremely pleased when the watches arrive later this year.
Finally – a huge thank you to Belinda at Harrods firstly for letting me know of the opportunity to see this piece, and then again for taking the time to show it to me!
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You might also be interested in:
- The Watch Boutique Experience
- Reverso Stories Exhibit at Covent Garden
- Recommended Reading: ‘The Collectibles’ Book by Jaeger-LeCoultre
- Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
- Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)
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