There has been (deservedly so) a lot of attention in the last couple of years thrown the way of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s legendary Reverso, which celebrated it’s 90th birthday in 2021. We saw the publication of Nicholas Foulkes’ magnificent Reverso book, published by Assouline books (available here, commission earned), the mind-blowing Reverso Quadriptyque was announced at Watches & Wonders, and over the past 12 months or so the travelling Reverso Stories exhibition has toured the world.
Reverso by Nicholas Foulkes
Now, however, for the brand’s 190th anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre is showcasing more of their most cherished historical references through a new campaign called “The Collectibles”.
With this campaign, Jaeger-LeCoultre has selected 12 of their most prized and sought after historic references, and lovingly both serviced and restored them, making them available for collectors to acquire directly from the brand. I think this is a brilliant idea – one of the biggest challenges around buying vintage watches is trusting that what you’re buying is indeed genuine, however buying a watch directly from the brand itself certainly eliminates that concern.
And just in case owning one of these watches wasn’t quite enough, those collectors who acquired one of the 12 watches would also receive a special accompanying book also entitled “The Collectibles”.
Thankfully, the book was also made available for collectors to purchase via Mr Porter (at the time of writing it is still available here); I decided to get hold of copy after spending some time looking through a copy Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Bond Street boutique – and here’s why I did!
“The Collectibles” Book – Jaeger LeCoultre
If you are a fan of Jaeger-LeCoultre, or are someone who generally enjoys learning about different brands’ histories, then this book is absolutely for you. It is jam-packed full of the perfect blend of stories, different references, technical details and information, and even vintage advertisements!
“The Collectibles” book is A4 size and presented in a lovely slipcase, and at an impressive 558 pages it is also demonstrative of how much effort the team at Jaeger-LeCoultre have gone to with curating it.
It goes much further than documenting the 12 references which were made available to collectors as a part of the campaign collection itself; it explores in depth the stories of 17 different historically important and significant watch families produced by Jaeger-LeCoultre between the 1920s and 1970s, and highlights a great many references, dial variants and calibres that were produced as a part of each.
Following an introduction by Catherine Rénier, the CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, and foreword by Dr Franco Cologni, who amongst other things is the founder of Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and the former chairman of Cartier, “The Collectibles” book is split out into 17 informative, yet easy-to-digest chapters. As you would expect, each chapter focuses on a different watch, and amongst those featured are the Reverso, the Triple Calendar, Futurematic, Geophysic, and a multitude of Memovox, Polaris and Deep-Sea watches.
With such a diversity of watches, you are able to really get a flavour of Jaeger-LeCoultre as a storied brand beyond just the Reverso, and come to understand why it became affectionately known as “the watchmaker’s watchmaker”.
Each chapter eloquently tells the story of the watch in rich detail which gives the reader an in depth understanding of why, when and how the watches came to be, but also what made them so popular and why they are so prized amongst collectors today. Technical detail is provided as well, but don’t worry, it is not overly technical and is presented in such a way that makes it eminently readable.
The chapters explore different references and dial variations of each watch, as well as information about the various calibres that were used, and when.
There are even extracts from company archives, patents and more – a level of detail and insight that you can only really find in books that are published by, or at the very least authorised by, the manufacturers themselves.
All of this detail is interspersed with beautiful photography, images of rare and special watches, and in amongst the different watches are also countless examples of vintage adverts for the different watches that were published during the time of their production. In fact, this leads me to one of my favourite finds of this book.
I have always held a particular affection for the Memovox – watches with acoustic complications appeal to me a great deal, and there is something I find especially charming about the mechanical alarm complication. (And, given 5 of the 12 watches available as a part of The Collectibles series are Memovox watches, I am clearly not the only one who thinks so!)
Whilst reading through one of the Memovox chapters, I noticed an advert which featured the Concorde – something that I have also held a great deal of affection for since I was a child. This advert was for three models of Memovox and was published in France in 1969, describing the Memovox as a “watch for the man of action”.
It’s not very often you find something like this, which for me brings one of my favourite watches and favourite aircraft together in a moment from history. An original advert from this era is one that someday I would love to have a framed copy of up on my wall.
Another highlight for me was a little-known story from the Reverso chapter: between December 1931 and April 1932, then case manufacturer Wenger SA had sold eight Reverso cases to Patek Philippe. These cases were used on eight watches manufactured by Patek Philippe as reference 106, meaning that there eight “Patek Philippe Reversos” out there somewhere. After a bit of further digging on this, it turns out three of them are in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva – something super rare to keep an eye out for if ever you visit the museum!
For me, “The Collectibles” book is up there as one of my favourites that I’ve read to date. It’s beautifully presented, and packed full with tonnes of interesting information. It serves as both an excellent coffee table book that you can dip in and out of, and comprehensive reference book for collectors alike. I have no doubt I will come back to this again and again.
Given this is Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 190th anniversary, I am already looking forward to what is up their sleeve for in ten years’ time! To learn more about The Collectibles campaign, visit Jaeger-LeCoultre.com.
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You might also be interested in:
- Reverso Stories Exhibit at Covent Garden
- Spotlight: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Nonantième
- “It’s complicated”: Acoustic watch complications
- Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
- Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)
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