Brooklyn-based lettering artist Alex Trochut unveiled the new 1931 Alphabet specially created for Jaeger-LeCoultre. Celebrated for the way that he harnesses the visual potential of language to redefine typography, Alex turned to Art Deco as his stylistic springboard for the new lettering. “It’s a real pleasure to collaborate with Jaeger-LeCoultre on this project and reveal the new 1931 alphabet in the setting of the Reverso 1931 Café”, said Alex.

During the evening, a DJ set was provided by 5-time Grammy winning, Oscar winning, director, author and musician Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the drummer and band leader for The Roots who serve as the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Also among the guests was New York-based artist Michael Murphy, pioneer of the perceptual art movement. In 2021, marking the 90th anniversary of the Reverso, he created the installation Space Time, which transports its viewers through the three physical dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time. Both artists are collaborating with Jaeger-LeCoultre under the aegis of its Made of Makers programme – an ongoing series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, which explores and extends the dialogue that exists between horology and art.

The Reverso 1931 Café offers a collection of pastries specially designed by the Paris-based chef Nina Métayer – also an alumnus of Made of Makers – to echo the Art Deco aesthetic of the interior design, and featuring flavours from Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, the home of Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The Reverso 1931 Café will be open at 729 Madison Avenue until Tuesday 22 November, then will become nomadic throughout the city, making appearances in Soho and Bryant Park between November 25^th and December 2^nd.

An Homage to Art Deco

Born in the 1920s, Art Deco style was distinguished by a streamlined geometry that rejected traditional ornamentation and perfectly captured the spirit of modernity and progress that defined its time. Created in 1931 and infused with this same spirit, the Reverso was a radical departure from the norms of traditional watch design. Its ingenious functionality and highly distinctive aesthetic epitomised the progressive values that had transformed every area of design, from architecture, automobiles and graphic art, to furniture, films and fashion.

As a quintessential expression of Art Deco style, 1931 Café will evoke the elegant interior of a 1930s ocean liner and the glamour of a film set. Using a black-and-white palette and infused with a warm and flattering light, the design incorporates signature Art Deco materials – chrome, velvet, glass and lacquered wood – and features a marble floor with an inlaid geometric pattern typical of the era. Every detail has been custom-designed, from the frosted-glass chandelier dominating the centre of the room, to the chairs featuring three metal bands that echo the three gadroons on a Reverso case.

A Unique Collaboration with Chef Nina Métayer

Completing the design, a special collection of cakes and pastries has been created by Nina Métayer. Twice named Pastry Chef of the Year, the young Paris-based chef is celebrated for her originality, artistry and exceptional flavours. For 1931 Café, Chef Métayer has designed these sweet treats not only to echo the Art Deco aesthetic of the interior design but also to take guests on a journey to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in the Vallée de Joux. By using flavours from the Valley, such as mountain berries, nuts and honey – and, of course, Swiss chocolate – she is inviting guests to experience the world through different flavours, as well as to enjoy pastry that has been elevated to a finely handcrafted art form. Among the pieces created exclusively for 1931 Café are a delightful surprise that alludes to the snowy landscape of the Jura in winter while hiding a burst of summer fruit in its centre, and an elegant, rectangular confection of hazelnuts and chocolate that pays direct tribute to Art Deco style.

“What appealed to me greatly about this collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre was the idea of bringing together two very different expressions of craftsmanship in one project,” says Nina Métayer. “The pastry chef and the watchmaker share the same deep values and our gestures are driven by the same desire: not to create for ourselves but to excel for the pleasure of the recipient.”

From Paris to Shanghai – a Story of Style

The two cities chosen as locations for 1931 Café played significant roles in the story of Art Deco. Paris was its birthplace, with prototypical elements of the new style first appearing in the city’s architecture and applied arts in the 1920s. The defining moment came in 1925, when the French capital hosted the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This was the catalyst for the global flowering of a style that remained dominant throughout the 1930s – although the term Art Deco, derived from the exhibition’s name, was coined by art historians only in the late 1960s.

In the history of Shanghai, Art Deco also has a unique place. Blending East and West, the distinctive ‘Chinese Art Deco’ style blossomed during the 1930s, as the city became a social, cultural and economic hub of East Asia. This heritage makes it especially fitting to inaugurate the 1931 Café in Shanghai, offering its residents and visitors the opportunity to experience the aesthetic and cultural world that gave birth to the Reverso design.

Opening from 13th June until 15th August, the 1931 Café will be located at K11, the art and fashion hub in the centre of Shanghai. In the autumn, as 1931 Café, it will be recreated in a new location in the heart of Paris.