Introducing Jaeger-LeCoultre’s The Collectibles Capsule of Rare Reversos

From today through February 23, Jaeger-LeCoultre is presenting a unique timepiece exhibition within its New York City flagship boutique on Madison Avenue. The fifth installment of The Collectibles, the presentation features a curation of eight rare Reversos from 1931 to 1937 that the maison collected over the last two years, authenticated, restored, and now makes available to collectors. This is the first iteration of The Collectibles dedicated entirely to the Reverso—and it encapsulates the depth of the foundational elements of a design iconography that’s resonant beyond the wristwatch world.

To build such a cohesive collection required patience and commitment. “It’s a treasure hunt. You know that you want to assemble a collection of Reversos, but there is no secret place to find the pieces,” Matthieu Sauret, Product Marketing and Heritage Director at Jaeger-LeCoultre, tells Surface. Sauret, who was wearing his own Reverso Tribute 1931 on a Casa Fagliano strap, adds, “You have to trust luck. Sometimes these will appear in small estate auctions. Merchants will find you a watch, or someone will sell their collection. All of these were brought together, one by one.”

It all began with one rare Reverso 1931. Then Sauret and the team looked into pieces featuring other metals, different shapes, various dial colors, and a multitude of straps or bracelets. “There’s one thing you’ll notice on the dial. Almost all of them just say ‘Reverso,’” the heritage director explains. “At the time, Jaeger and LeCoultre were two separate companies working in a joint venture. Although they strongly believed in their names, and they were engraving LeCoultre on the caliber, they thought the concept of the watch was stronger. It was just Reverso. All of them had just Reverso on the dial until 1937.”

The metals in the collection range from yellow and white gold to chrome and various steels. “The Reverso was born as a steel watch,” Sauret says. “It was a watch made for sports. With one example, it was not called stainless steel at the time. It was called Staybrite. It was a different alloy.” Another unique steel piece comes complete with a chrome bracelet and buckle; this material was developed to maintain its brightness over time. The particular piece in the capsule represents the first time Jaeger-LeCoultre came across an original chrome bracelet in this condition.

It’s hard to select a highlight from the crop. Though, the two-tone steel and 9K yellow gold Reverso certainly makes a case. The golden glow almost illuminates the steel. Further, its “Gothic Hours” indicators carry additional charm. A slender Reverso 1931 Dame in yellow and white gold 18K also surprises and delights. It also happens to be one of the earliest Reverso releases ever. Some may also note a Reverso with heated blue hands—and an exceptionally rare double signature. It bears the name Golay Fils & Stahl Genève, an important retailer in the ‘30s and today.

A capsule like this functions twofold for Jaeger-LeCoultre. First, it engages the client base. “A large percentage of our clients will only buy from us,” Sauret says. “They value curation and restoration from the maison. This is what we wanted to bring to the world, something curated.” In essence, they’re antique pieces with a stamp of approval from the brand itself.

Second, it speaks to heritage—and doubles as a quest for inspiration. “This is one of our chances to look back at what was done in the past,” Sauret continues. “When you prepare something vintage to be sold again, it brings you closer to the originality of the piece. A lot of the elements that we find by restoring these pieces helps us project ourselves onto the next new collection. Even the engineering pushes us to think—they were doing this 90 years ago and it may have been lost through the years but what might it allow us to think about.”

“These watches are meant to be worn but they are not built with today’s technology,” Sauret says. “They are not waterproof. They are meant to be handled with care. But they tell time perfectly. They are 90 years of age, some more. One is 95 years old. Our hope is that they last another 95 years. This is the beauty of watchmaking. It was made 95 years ago and today we still work with fine mechanical elements that can be repaired endlessly.”

Ultimately, the collection expresses the might of the Reverso design. And, in fact, it was the design that kept it relevant. “The Reverso was invented in the 1930s because there was no unbreakable glass. This is why it was invented to be reversible, so that it can protect itself from shock ,” Sauret concludes. “A few months after it was launched, the industry invented unbreakable sapphire crystal. The purpose of the original watch was already outdated. But the watch is still here. A lot has to do with the design language—the Art Deco influences, the elongated lines, the fact that it was made to sit perfectly on the wrist. Even though the original purpose does not remain, it’s something made with purpose.”

The Collectible pieces are now available for purchase worldwide via jaeger-lecoultre.com. Each timepiece offered through The Collectibles program is presented with an extract from the Jaeger-LeCoultre archive and a copy of The Collectibles book. The exhibition experience is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 10:00 AM until 06:00 PM at 701 Madison Avenue.