• Challenging movement: Calibre 826 with 243 components and a 42-hour power reserve
• Masterful craftsmanship: 70 pink gold stars shine against a night-blue enamel sky, perfected in 10 hours of work
• Limited edition: offering 90 pieces

Following the introduction in 2021 of the Reverso Tribute Nonantieme ‘Enamel’ to celebrate the Reverso’s 90th anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre presents a new expression of the timepiece in 18k pink gold (750/1000) with an elegant grey sunray dial and decorative enamelling on the reverse. To be made in a limited edition of 90 pieces, this new interpretation again demonstrates La Grande Maison’s constant pursuit of technical innovation married to timeless design and fine craftsmanship.

FROM POLO FIELD TO HIGH WATCHMAKING – AN ICON EVOLVES

Created in 1931, the Reverso was designed to meet the demands of the newly fashionable ‘sporting gentleman’. A challenge was set by polo-playing military officers in India during the British Raj of 1858-1947 to create a watch that could withstand the rigours of the polo field. The Reverso was the answer – a masterful integration of form and function. Quickly adopted by tastemakers from all walks of life, the Reverso soon transcended its original sporting purpose as new variations appeared – for both men and women. However, its iconic double-sided case (historical patent CH159982) and distinctive Art Deco lines have remained constant, making the Reverso one of the world’s most recognisable wristwatches.

The Reverso was born as a deft synthesis of style and function. Rooted in the Art Deco aesthetics, it also embodied a mechanical revolution allowed by La Grande Maison’s expertise. From the very beginning of its production, Reverso’s calibres were shaped to follow the curves of its rectangular case, an ingenious answer to maximise space used and therefore the precision of the calibre. In 1931, it was seen as a revolution in Haute Horlogerie: an unusual rectangular case, powered by shaped calibres, set in a dedicated casing ring to protect them from shocks, humidity and the passing of time.

This technical challenge, overtook by the Manufacture, was fully embraced in the beginning of the 1990s, when Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced high complications in Reverso. In 1991, marking the 60th anniversary, the Reverso Soixantieme displayed a power reserve and date, with another first – a sapphire crystal caseback, to observe the mechanical treasure within. During the decade that followed, five of the great classical complications were reinterpreted, with the movement architecture and visual displays reimagined for the rectangular Reverso case. Then, to mark the completion of another decade, the Reverso Septantieme was introduced in 2001.

In 2021, the 90th anniversary of the Reverso’s birth, Jaeger-LeCoultre created the Reverso Tribute Nonantieme. It brought a fresh and exciting stylistic language to the Reverso, presenting an entirely new visual expression of some of watchmaking’s most familiar complications.

A NEW COLOUR FOR THE FRONT DIAL; ENAMEL AND LACQUER ENHANCE THE REVERSE SIDE

Driven by its continuing exploration of beauty and refined craftsmanship, the new interpretation of the Reverso Tribute Nonantieme ‘Enamel’ features an elegant grey sunray-brushed dial and a richly decorated reverse side. The simplicity of the Reverso Tribute iconography – elongated applied indexes, Dauphine hands and a chemin de fer minutes track – places the emphasis on the complications. The ‘Grande Date’ display at 12 o’clock is highlighted by an applied pink golden-coloured frame that echoes the rectangular shape of the case and dial. In the lower half of the dial within the small seconds counter, a moon phase display is set against the background of stars in a deep blue sky. While the colours of these details echo those on the reverse dial, the classically elegant aesthetic gives no hint of the surprise that awaits when flipping the case over.

Turning the case reveals the Nonantieme’s distinctive and visually exciting displays wrapped in the beauty of a starry night sky. The dial comprises two round apertures of different sizes, overlapping and arranged like a figure-eight, which is encircled by gadroons that echo those on the upper and lower edges of the case. The small upper aperture displays a semi-jumping digital hour indication against a white background. Below the hour, the large aperture displays minutes on a rotating disc that is partially concealed by a three-quarter plate, lacquered in a rich shade of blue. Tiny pink gold stars are transferred onto the surface of the lacquer to depict the night sky. Within a smaller circle at the centre, a polished sun and moon indicate night and day as they pass above a horizon. The semi-circle below the horizon is decorated with a guilloché pattern of sunrays and the entire lower aperture is framed by a circle of pink gold beading (18k, 750/1000).

The larger surface surrounding the indications – which had been an unbroken expanse of pink gold in the original Nonantieme – is transformed into a starry night sky with multiple layers of rich blue enamel sprinkled with stars. The latitude and longitude lines are engraved with a hand-held laser to reveal the underlying pink gold case metal.

CLASSIC COMPLICATIONS REINVENTED THROUGH MECHANICAL INNOVATION

Showing the same time on both faces of the watch and comprising 243 components, Calibre 826 was conceived specifically for the Reverso Tribute Nonantieme ‘Enamel’ and was developed, produced and assembled entirely in-house. Given La Grande Maison’s philosophy of designing movements that closely fit the shape of their case, the rectangular Reverso creates a particular challenge when designing complications that were traditionally conceived for round movements. To accommodate the Grande Date display within the confined space of the upper dial, in 2021, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s engineers developed a completely new mechanism comprising two small side-by-side discs (one for the units 1–9 and one for the 10s, 20s and 30s) rather than two “stacked” discs, as is normal. When the date passes single digits, a tiny hook on the units disc latches on to the other disc, turning it to create the double-digit reading (10^th, 11^th, 12^th…etc). This patented invention has the additional benefit of displaying both digits of the date at exactly the same level, rather than one slightly lower than the other.

Although La Grande Maison’s watchmakers had incorporated the digital hours complication in some calibres during the 1930s, they have used it rarely in recent decades. For the display, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s engineers opted for a semi-jumping rather than instantaneously jumping mechanism to allow for a more gradual and elegant transition. Also, because an instantaneous jump requires a large and sudden burst of energy, this choice safeguards the power reserve.

Offered in a limited edition of 90 pieces, this new interpretation of the Reverso Tribute Nonantieme ‘Enamel’ underlines the timelessness and versatility of the Reverso, as well as La Grande Maison’s continuing commitment to craft and creativity alongside mechanical innovation and excellence.

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

REVERSO TRIBUTE NONANTIEME ‘ENAMEL’

Case: Pink gold (18k, 750/1000)

Dimensions : 49.4 mm x 29.9 mm x 11.72 mm

Movement:  Manually wound, Calibre 826

Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, Grande Date, Moon phases (front); Digital semi-jumping hour, minutes on a disc. Night-day indication (reverse)

Front dial: Grey sunrayed

Reverse dial: Blue enamel and lacquer

Power Reserve: 42 hours

Water resistance: 3 bar

Strap: Black alligator

Buckle: Interchangeable pin buckle

Reference: Q71125E1

Limited edition of 90 pieces

The installation, titled Spacetime, further expands the cultural and creative universe of the Manufacture by exploring the relationship between the three physical dimensions of space, and the fourth dimension of time. Following its debut in China at Watches & Wonders Shanghai on April 14^th, Spacetime will be exhibited in key cities around the world over the course of the year.

THE ANAMORPHOSIS

Michael Murphy’s main body of work emphasises perspective: his installations require the viewer to change position in order to fully appreciate them. Fusing classical art-making techniques with digital processes and manual skills, he has invented an entirely new formula for rendering two-dimensional images as suspended, three-dimensional mobiles. These anamorphic installations comprise a multitude of objects hanging at various heights and distances. Depending on the viewer’s line of sight, they appear to change form: from a seemingly random and chaotic jumble of shapes they coalesce into a highly organised and recognisable image. Thus, the viewer experiences a perceptual shift, breaking down the barrier between the art medium itself and the subjective experience.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Michael Murphy. His artistic installation requires extreme precision, a value that we share at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Our watchmakers throw their heart and soul into every ingenious sketch, every oscillation of the balance wheel, every escapement wheel - always pushing the boundaries of precision." says Catherine Rénier, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre.

For this new work, the Maison has collaborated with an artist whose work is often based on images of instantly recognisable cultural icons. “The Reverso has this iconic graphic identity and that's the type of content that I often work with,” says Michael Murphy.

The timepiece chosen to be represented through Spacetime is the newly released Reverso Tribute Nonantième, which expresses the time in an entirely different manner on each of its faces. The artist immediately saw a parallel between this new Reverso and his anamorphic works, many of which have two distinct sides, showing two entirely different images when viewed from different positions.

“My Reverso design explodes into an array of parts that tell a story about the watch and how it works,” explains Murphy. “I dissected it into all of its working components and composed them in a way that creates two different photographic illusions, one renders the front of the watch and one the reverse.”

The shape of each of the artwork’s 69 components resembles a familiar part of a watch. However, each is photo-printed with different fragments of movement and dial components. These parts appear exactly as in the watch only when they are lined up perfectly, as the viewer walks around the installation.

PARALLELS WITH WATCHMAKING

Beyond the obvious connection to the Reverso, Murphy’s work has many parallels with watchmaking, especially the need for extreme precision. “We create these artworks that are made of a lot of suspended objects that have to line up with one another in three dimensions and we deal with just one millimetre tolerance,” says the artist. “For us, working on a piece more than 12 feet [3.6m] tall, one millimetre adds a real level of complexity. The precision of watchmaking is something we can really relate to.”

As with the development of a new watch calibre, Murphy’s art requires an intense level of planning. It is a highly complex process involving 75 steps that must be taken in the right sequence, beginning with the mapping of exactly where in the three dimensions each component must be, in order to create an image that the viewer can understand. As in a watch movement, if one tiny element is off, the entire work is off.

“SPACETIME” INSTALLATION

The title of the new work, Spacetime, came naturally to an artist who has always been fascinated by the relationship between space and time. In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold.

“I’ve always thought of my installations as having four dimensions,” Murphy explains. “I create these artworks that are illusions of flat images that float in three dimensional space [with] the length, the width, and the height. And then the experiencing of the piece happens over time. That's the fourth dimension of the work.”

The collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre has fulfilled a desire, long held by the artist, to make a time piece – in the literal sense. “Time is an essential component to all of my work – the fourth dimension. But I have always been fascinated by the aesthetic of internal watch parts and their precision and have always wanted to make a time piece – a piece that is about time.”

For the viewer, Michael Murphy’s Spacetime captures the beauty and precision of time-keeping and time-making in a new and uniquely fascinating way.

Discover the Augmented Reality of the installation

ABOUT MICHAEL MURPHY

Michael Murphy (b. 1975) is an American artist best known for his unique style of art-making, which he calls Perceptual Art. He describes his technique, which emphasises the viewer’s perception, as “illusions of images rendered in three dimensional space”. In his early career, Murphy created commissioned works while teaching art in universities, and since 2013, he has devoted his time exclusively to creating art. Among Murphy’s most notable works are Gun Country and The Immigrant – which invite people to reflect on important social issues – his portraits of Barack Obama, and several works created for Michael Jordan and Nike. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His portfolio can be viewed online at perceptualart.com.

ABOUT THE REVERSO

In 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre launched a timepiece that was destined to become a classic of 20th-century design: the Reverso. Created to withstand the rigours of polo matches, its sleek, Art Deco lines and unique reversible case make it one of the most immediately recognisable watches of all time. Through nine decades the Reverso has continually reinvented itself without ever compromising its identity: it has housed more than 50 different calibres, while its blank metal flip side has become a canvas for creative expression, decorated with enamel, engravings or gemstones. Today, 90 years after the Reverso was born, it continues to epitomise the spirit of modernity that inspired its creation.

In 1991, 60 years after the Reverso’s creation, Jaeger-LeCoultre presented the Reverso Soixantième. With power reserve and date displays, it was the first Reverso with complications and the first with a sapphire crystal caseback, providing a window onto the mechanical treasure within. Although the Reverso case and its shaped movement had not initially been designed for complications, the Soixantième revealed its full potential, unleashing a sequence of pieces that gave new visual expression to the great watchmaking complications.

In 2021, nine decades after the Reverso was born, Jaeger-LeCoultre presents the latest episode in this story: the Reverso Tribute Nonantième, which gives a completely new visual expression to an alliance of several classical complications.

Reverso Writes a New Chapter in the Story of Complications

The launch of the Soixantième in 1991 had coincided with the rebirth of complicated watchmaking that followed the quartz crisis. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s long and distinguished history as a creator of high complications provided its engineers and designers with an exceptionally rich archive from which to learn, and develop new calibres. Nevertheless, the Manufacture’s goal of creating six new Reverso models within the decade, each incorporating one of the great classical complications, was very ambitious – not least, given the particular challenges posed by rectangular movements, which dictate a different architecture from that of round movements.

The Soixantième was followed in 1993 by the Reverso Tourbillon – the Manufacture’s first wristwatch tourbillon. In 1994, Jaeger-LeCoultre released the Reverso Répétition Minutes, the first time the Maison had miniaturised a minute repeater for a wristwatch, and the world’s first rectangular minute repeater movement. In 1996, La Grande Maison introduced the Reverso Chronographe Rétrograde, with an intricate display on the reverse side that solved the problem of how to arrange the chronograph counters within a rectangular frame. This was followed two years later by the Reverso Géographique and, coinciding with the Millennium, the Reverso Quantième Perpétuel.

In 2001, Jaeger-LeCoultre marked the completion of another decade in the Reverso story with the Septantième. Its movement, Calibre 879, offered an 8-day power reserve – almost unheard-of at the time. And now, nine decades after the Reverso was born, La Grande Maison introduces a new alliance of complications.

The Reverso Tribute Nonantième

The front dial of the Nonantième exudes refinement and elegance. The pink gold case with its signature gadroons frames a silvered, sunray-brushed dial with applied golden indexes and Dauphine hands. In the lower half of the dial, a moonphase display is set within the circle formed by the small seconds counter. Beneath 12 o’clock is a large date display, framed by an applied filet of pink gold that echoes the rectangular shape of the dial and case.

The classically elegant aesthetic of the front dial gives no hint of the surprise concealed on the reverse side of the watch. Flipping the case over reveals an entirely new visual expression of some of watchmaking’s most familiar complications. Dramatic and captivating, it is unlike anything seen on a Reverso before.

The solid pink-gold caseback is dominated by two round apertures of different sizes, arranged like a figure-eight and encircled by gadroons that echo the rectilinear gadroons on the upper and lower edges of the case. The small upper aperture displays a semi-jumping digital hour indication. Seen for the first time in a Reverso, this complication recalls digital displays developed by the Manufacture for wristwatches in the 1930s.

In the large aperture below the hour, minutes are displayed on a rotating disc that is partially concealed by a three-quarter plate lacquered in vivid blue – in the Atelier des Métiers Rares® – and sprinkled with tiny golden stars to depict the night sky. Within a small circle at the centre, an applied golden sun and moon, pass above a horizon, to indicate night and day. In the semi-circle below the horizon, a JL logo is set on a sunray-pattern background.

As is the case for all complicated Reverso models, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s engineers developed an entirely new, manually wound movement for the Nonantième, Calibre 826. Comprising 230 components and showing the same time on both faces of the watch, it offers a power reserve of 42 hours.

The Reverso Tribute Nonantième is offered in a limited edition of 190 pieces, available exclusively at Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

REVERSO TRIBUTE NONANTIEME

Case material: Pink gold

Case dimensions: 49.4 x 29.9 mm

Thickness: 11.72 mm

Movement: Manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 826

Functions:

Front display: Hours, minutes, small seconds. Grande Date. Moon phases

Back display: Digital semi-jumping hour, minutes on a disc. Night-day indication

Power reserve: 42 hours

Water resistance: 30 metres

Strap: Black alligator

Reference: Q711252J