Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso: A Comprehensive History and Guide

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is one of those historical, influential timepieces that has been occasionally imitated but never really equaled in its appeal. Tracing its origins back nearly a hundred years, It is the most prominent and enduring example of Art Deco design in the 21st Century watch world and one of the first and most successful examples of a tool watch that transcended its utilitarian origins to become a stylish and indisputably unisex fashion accessory. Read on to discover everything you need to know about the Reverso and how it has maintained its iconic status in a century of shifting trends and industry headwinds.

Foundations: Jaeger Meets LeCoultre

Antoine LeCoultre

Today a watchmaking house renowned for both its high-luxury pedigree and a high-horology acumen nearly unmatched in the industry, Jaeger-LeCoultre had the humblest of beginnings. In 1833 Antoine LeCoultre (1803 - 1881), descendant of farmers and blacksmiths, started making timepieces in his family’s small barn in Le Sentier in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux. Learning metallurgy from his father at the family forge, LeCoultre developed an early interest in watchmaking and proved to be an influential innovator of his era. His so-called “millionomètre,” completed in 1844, had a profound impact on the precise manufacture of watch parts as it was the first instrument able to measure 1/1000ths of a millimeter, aka microns. At the 1851 Great Exhibition in London’s Hyde Park, LeCoultre was awarded a Gold Medal for the machine-cut pinion that he displayed there, a first for horology in the Victorian era. 

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in 1900

While he was a gifted inventor, Antoine LeCoultre was not a particularly skilled businessman, and his watchmaking enterprise struggled until his son, Elie, joined him as a manager. In 1866, the father-son team made the momentous decision (for the time) to bring all the various disciplines that contributed to finished watches — from cutting components, to engraving and enameling — under one roof. Thus did the family firm transform into one of the first modern manufactures at a time when many companies were still entrenched in the traditional établissage system, in which various stages of watch production were spread out among separate specialists. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the business, then called LeCoultre & Cie., continued to grow and to achieve milestones in watchmaking history. By 1870 the company had established the first partially mechanized production system for complicated movements, like repeaters and chronographs, and by 1900 it had already created more than 350 separate calibers. (Today, the tally is over 1,400.)

Antoine LeCoultre retired from the business in 1877 and died in 1881. Management of the company passed to his three sons and eventually to his grandson, Jacques-David LeCoultre. In this third-generation era, specifically in the dawning years of the 20th Century, the partnership was forged that led to the modern firm now known as Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Edmond Jaeger

Edmond Jaeger (1858 - 1922), born in Alsace and based in Paris, was serving as watchmaker to the French Navy when he designed an ultra-thin watch movement in 1903. Jaeger, who also counted French watch-and-jewelry house Cartier among his prestigious client list, challenged watchmakers in Switzerland to build the movement. Jacques-David LeCoultre accepted and the results, in 1907, were the world’s thinnest pocket watch of its time; the history-making movement inside it, Caliber 145; and the start of a close friendship and professional collaboration between the ambitious Frenchman and the third-generation Swiss scion. Jaeger-LeCoultre (as the company was officially named in 1937) has been a specialist in exceedingly thin calibers, including many complicated ones, ever since. 

Art Deco Meets Polo: The First Reverso

Frankly, it is very easy to digress when delving into the fascinating history of Jaeger-LeCoultre. But this article is about the Reverso, so let’s rewind to 1931, before the official merger of the Jaeger and LeCoultre watchmaking firms. This is when another player enters the story, a Swiss businessman and watch distributor named Cesar de Trey, who attended a polo match between British Army officers while traveling in India. During the match, a watch worn by one of the officers had its crystal shattered during play, prompting the players to request from de Trey a watch that was tough enough to withstand the rigors of their sport. De Trey pitched the idea to his friend and colleague LeCoultre, who in turn, as he often did, brought in Edmond Jaeger to help execute the idea. The solution presented itself in the remarkable, swiveling watch case designed by René-Alfred Chauvot, a French industrial designer and associate of Jaeger. 

The case consisted of two parts: a capsule, containing the movement and a dial under a crystal, which could swivel 180 degrees on a hinge, and a base with parallel grooves on which the capsule could slide into a locking mechanism with spring-loaded pins. This enabled the wearer to “reverse” the watch on demand so the solid back was facing the front, and the fragile crystal over the dial facing the wrist, while playing polo, protecting the crystal from damage by errant shots from mallets or balls. It’s worth noting that despite its longtime association with luxury, these specifications make the Reverso one of the earliest true “sports” watches. 

Patent application for the Reverso

The patent for the case (No. 712.868) was filed in March 1931 with the French Ministry of Trade and Industry. De Trey, who’d bought the design from Chauvot, entered into a partnership with LeCoultre and registered the name “Reverso” (from the Latin “I turn around”) in November. The first Reverso watches hit the market toward the end of the year, and they were in many respects unlike any other timepiece that had been seen before. The smoothly sculpted rectilinear case measured 38mm x 24mm and had a thickness of 6mm; its top and bottom were adorned with three horizontal gadroons, a motif drawn from the Art Deco architectural movement that was very much in vogue at the time. The dial was black, a rarity in those days, with sword hands and dart-like baton indexes against a rectangular, railway-style minute track. The original models’ dials had only the name “Reverso” inscribed on them, as there was no “Jaeger-LeCoultre” company in existence, much less a logo. The cases of the earliest Reversos were sourced from the Geneva-based Wenger factory and the movements inside were manually wound Tavannes 064 calibers. In 1933, LeCoultre began using the in-house Caliber 11’’’U and its successor, Caliber 11’’’SC; Reversos, like most other Jaeger-LeCoultre watches, have primarily been using in-house movements ever since. 

Vintage Reverso advertisement

Its timeless design — still considered one of the enduring icons of Art Deco —  made the Reverso popular beyond its intended audience of polo enthusiasts. Shortly after the first LeCoultre Reversos made their debut, in fact, came a little-known chapter in the Reverso saga, with another of the watch world’s pre-eminent haute horlogerie houses playing a central role. Jacques-David LeCoultre, it turns out, was on the Board of Directors for Patek Philippe starting in 1902 and the commercial relationship between JLC and Patek led to the release of eight Patek Philippe Reverso models in 1931 and 1932 — four in yellow gold, four in a combo of yellow gold and white gold — which are now among the rarest Patek Philippe watches in history. One resides in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva; another sold at a Christie’s auction in 2010 for 147,000 Swiss francs; the whereabouts of the others remain mysterious. The only other watch brand that created anything similar to the Reverso’s swiveling case was Cartier, at the time working closely with LeCoultre and de Trey: its Cabriolet model (today known as the Tank Basculante) employed a similar patented design but the case rotated on a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. These are, of course, the exceptions to the widely accepted rule that the Reverso design is not only exclusive to Jaeger-LeCoultre but central to its identity.

A Reverso model from 1934

The stylistic evolution and diversification of the Reverso began almost immediately. The earliest models had simple two-handed dials, but in 1934, LeCoultre introduced a new dial with a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock; in later iterations, this traditional round subdial would adopt a rectangular shape echoing the lines of the case, and the sword hands would give way to Deco-inspired Dauphine hands. Right on the heels of the 1931 Reversos on leather straps came the first feminine-targeted pieces mounted on pendants, presaging the Reverso’s longstanding status as a watch with wide unisex appeal. The first dials with “Jaeger-LeCoultre” and “Reverso” text came in 1937 when the company as we know it today was officially formed.

Amelia Earhart's Reverso

Most significant in establishing the Reverso as an icon was its plain, unadorned caseback, which was devised as a utilitarian element but quickly became a blank canvas for personalization and creative expression, like initials, monograms, and coats of arms. Important historical figures, including Amelia Earhart, General Douglas MacArthur, and King Edward VIII, owned Reversos and had them personally engraved. Earhart, for example, had the itinerary of her first solo flight from Mexico to New York inscribed on the caseback, MacArthur had stylized "D MAC A" initials engraved on his watch's flip side, and Edward, who famously abdicated his throne in 1936 to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, had his watch etched with the Royal Crest. Several of these Reversos of historical provenance are held in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Museum in Le Sentier. Eventually, Reverso casebacks would even host dazzling miniature portraits and paintings.

Reversals and Rebirth

 "Corvo" Reverso, circa 1972

Despite its early success, the Reverso eventually fell victim to changing fashion trends in the 1940s and early 1950s. After World War II, round watch cases were in and Art Deco, with its architectural, geometric lines and shapes, was on the way out. Jaeger-LeCoultre ceased production of Reverso models sometime around the middle of the 20th Century — reportedly in 1948, though no two sources seem to agree on precisely the year — and the model languished in the shadows for many years. Then came 1972, and another key player in the Reverso saga whose name was neither Jaeger nor LeCoultre. Giorgio Corvo, the company’s Italian distributor at the time, had bought the 200 Reverso cases left over from the watch’s last production run and was itching to revive the model for his market: despite the rise of inexpensive quartz watches almost everywhere else in the world during this era, Italy had become a hotbed for mechanical luxury watches. Corvo convinced JLC to install movements in the cases and subsequently sold all of them within a matter of months. These “Corvo” Reversos, notable for their Roman-numeral dials, are now among the most valuable examples of the model, and they proved that the 1930s design still had a lot of life left in it, and a lot of potential fans still to win over. 

There was one problem, however: Jaeger-LeCoultre had never made its Reverso case in-house, and the patent describing it was incomprehensible to modern interpreters. Enter Daniel Wild, an engineer at Jaeger-LeCoultre who took on the daunting task of reverse-engineering the Reverso case — presumably, appreciating the irony inherent in that mission. Wild started the project in 1981, and four years later Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the first Reverso in the so-called Classique case. It consisted of 55 parts as opposed to the original’s 23, rendering it a bit larger but also more robust and, for the first time in a Reverso, water-resistant. 

Reverso 60ème

Quartz dominance started to fade in the 1990s and the subsequent return of mechanical luxury watches to prominence heralded a renaissance for the Reverso. The model marked its 60th anniversary in 1991 with the launch of the Reverso Soixantième (“60th”), which was significant in two respects: it was the first Reverso in the larger “GT” (Grand Taille) case, measuring a contemporary 42.25mm x 26mm in dimensions (albeit still relatively svelte in profile, at just 9mm high). And it was the first in what turned out to be many Reverso models with added complications beyond hours, minutes and seconds. In the case of the 60ème model, the complications were an analog power-reserve indicator and an analog date pointer. Also of note was the in-house movement, Caliber 824, which boasted a mainplate and bridges in solid gold, one of only a few movements at the time with this luxurious treatment.

Reverso Tourbillon from 1993

All in all, during the 1990s, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced six complicated editions of the Reverso, each with its own dedicated, rectangular-form movement. Following the Soixantième edition were the Reverso Tourbillon (1993, and yes, here I will acknowledge for the purists that before the ‘90s, no one considered the tourbillon a complication); Reverso Répétition Minutes (1994); Reverso Chronograph (1996); Reverso Géographique (1998, a dual-time watch); and Reverso Quantième Perpétuel (2000, a perpetual calendar). When Jaeger-LeCoultre was acquired by Switzerland's Richemont Group in 2000, instantly becoming one of that luxury conglomerate's crown jewels, the stage was set for the venerable maison to reach even higher horological summits. 

Two (and More) Faces Have I

Reverso Duoface "Day-Night"

While the Reverso had long offered the opportunity for customization on its caseback, it wasn’t until 1994 that it took advantage of its reversing design to offer two distinct dials, and even two different sets of functions, one on each side of the case. The first Reverso Duoface, containing the manufacture Caliber 854, featured two dial faces — one black, one white; one rectangular, the other round with an added subdial. One dial represents “day,” the other, “night,” and most of the basic Duoface models include a button-operated GMT function that allows the “night” dial to display the time in a second time zone. 

 Big and complicated: the Reverso Squadra World Time Chronograph

As larger, bolder case sizes gained popularity in the 2000s, Jaeger-LeCoultre accommodated the demand with the launch of Grande Reverso models, the first of which was 2001’s 70th-anniversary limited edition, which introduced not only the enlarged “XGT” Reverso case (46mm x 29mm x 12mm) but also a Big Date complication and a double-barreled movement with an eight-day power reserve. Throughout the first decade of the 21st Century, Jaeger-LeCoultre and many other heritage watch firms started pushing the envelope on both case sizes and complications — perhaps even a bit too far, in the view (or hindsight) of many watch enthusiasts today. The bigger, bolder iterations of the Reverso, including the square-cased Reverso Squadra, which debuted to much fanfare in 2006, had their moment but have mostly faded from the modern lineup. Nevertheless, the luxury-watch boom of the aughts gave rise to several classic Reverso editions that allowed Jaeger-LeCoultre, always a master of high complications and horological innovations, to prove it was still at the absolute pinnacle of its craft. 

Reverso Grande Complication à Triptyque

One was 2006’s Reverso Grande Complication à Triptyque, which was the first Reverso, with not one, not two, but three separate dials — one on each side of the swiveling case and another on the base, or case carrier — and a host of calendrical and astronomical complications. One of the watch’s faces displayed civil time, day/night indicator, power reserve, and a view of the movement’s one-minute tourbillon. On its reverse side is the second face showing sidereal time and the equation of time, along with a star chart surrounded by signs of the Zodiac. The third face is an instantaneous perpetual calendar. Jaeger-LeCoultre managed to operate all the functions in this triple-threat timepiece with a single movement. In 2008 came the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2, which had the largest Reverso case yet (55mm x 36mm in platinum) and boasted a skeletonized movement with a spherical multi-axis tourbillon, an innovation that JLC had introduced in a round watch, the first Gyrotourbillon, in 2004. A more wearable version of the Reverso Gyrotourbillon (51mm x 31mm, also in platinum), emerged in 2016, also featuring a more decorative, less techie-looking openworked dial.

Back to Basics: Reverso Tribute

Another Reverso anniversary, the 80th, ushered in some noteworthy timepieces in 2011. One was yet another ultra-complicated limited edition, the Reverso Répétition Minutes à Rideau, a minute repeater with a tiny, sliding metal curtain (rideau in French) over the dial that activated the chimes while it revealed one of the dials. The other was a more simple, subdued piece that would have a much more profound effect on the Reverso collection going forward. The Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931 was, essentially, exactly what its name promised: a more or less faithful re-creation of the very first Reverso wristwatch from the year of its debut, right down to the “Reverso” text and absence of Jaeger-LeCoultre signage on the dial. That first Tribute model was a limited edition, but it spawned what is now one of the major pillars of the Reverso collection, which — aside from the ultra-complicated High Watchmaking pieces — now encompasses just three subfamilies and a manageable range of complications.

Reverso Classic Monoface Small Seconds

Reverso Classic watches, based on the 55-part, re-engineered Daniel Wild case design of the ‘80s, are distinguished by the use of Arabic numerals and a rectangular railroad minute track on their main dial as well as the use of blued sword hands. Classic models are among the most modestly sized, ranging from 40mm x 24mm in the largest iterations to 34mm x 21mm in the smallest. The Duetto models have two dials, each with a different execution of the same two-handed time display, and contain the manual-winding Caliber 844. The Monoface versions available are either a simple two-hander, powered by the Caliber 846, or a model with a small seconds subdial (Caliber 822). The more feminine and elongated Reverso One models, measuring 40.1mm x 20mm, also with Monoface and Duetto options, have a thinner, more elegant Arabic numeral font and blued Dauphine hands on their main dials as well as rows of brilliant-cut diamonds along the gadroons of the cases. 

Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds 

Reverso Tribute models, which launched in the wake of the 2011 Tribute to 1931 limited editions, feature the more 1930s-accurate Dauphine hands and applied dart indexes on their front faces. They are larger in general than the Classic and One models: the smallest start at 45.5mm x 27.4mm and 8.51mm thick, and the largest reach 49.4mm x 29.9mm and 11.14mm thick. Interestingly, both the Monoface and Duoface versions are Small Seconds watches, echoing the look of the 1934 models, rather than the more understated two-handed style of the first Reverso that debuted in 1931. Jaeger-LeCoultre has in recent years added very contemporary colorways in this family, including blues, greens, and burgundies. In a subtle, stylish nod to the Reverso’s origins, the straps, which elegantly color-coordinate with the dials, are made by Argentinean leather house Fagliano, a historical purveyor of boots for polo players. Caliber 822 ticks inside the Monoface Small Seconds watches, Caliber 854 inside the dual-time Duoface editions.

Reverso Tribute Duoface Calendar in gold

Some of the Reverso family’s more complicated models reside within the vintage-flavored Tribute collection, including the elegantly complex Duoface Calendar, whose front face is adorned with a combination of analog date and moon-phase while its reverse side features a day-night indication and the display of the time in a different time zone from the one in the front. Available in gold or stainless steel, these watches contain the hand-wound Caliber 853. 

Reverso Tribute Chronograph

In 2023, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the Reverso Tribute Chronograph, based on the limited edition from 1996. Powered by the manually wound, column-wheel-driven Caliber 860, it features the eye-catching horological combo of a blue-sunburst three-hand dial  on its front face and a fully skeletonized multifunctional display on its back, with a second-time-zone subdial floating above the mechanism; a central chronograph seconds hand activated by the two side-mounted pushers on the case; and a retrograde hand with a 30-minute scale to tally chronograph minutes. At the highest echelon of haute horlogerie in the main Tribute collection is the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon, a rose-gold edition with a flying tourbillon visible from both dial sides; the front has a sleek, simple sunray dial with two hands while the back boasts eye-catching embellishments like guilloche-finished gold bridges on the rotating tourbillon cage.

Reverso Hybris Mechanica Caliber 185 "Quadriptyque"

While the contemporary Reverso collection emphasizes elegance and “everyday” complications, Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to turn to its rectangular, reversing icon as a template for the highest levels of horological sophistication. Consider the truly mind-blowing edition it unveiled in 2021, the Reverso’s 90th anniversary year. The Reverso Hybris Mechanica Caliber 185 “Quadriptyque,” is the most complex Reverso ever, with no less than four separate functional faces and 11 total complications — perpetual calendar, minute repeater, flying tourbillon, grande date, and three lunar-cycle indications never before combined in a wristwatch: one each for the synodic, draconic, and anomalistic cycles. Somehow, one movement — the ingenious Caliber 185, six years in development — drives all of these functions via a front and back display on the rotating capsule as well as front and back displays on the base. At 51mm x 31mm in diameter and 15mm thick, it’s even somewhat wearable — although, at only 10 pieces made, and priced at 1.35 million euros, not all that attainable for most. Nevertheless, this horological chef d’oeuvre is further proof that, In keeping with the theme established nearly a century ago on a polo field in India, the maker of the world’s only reversible timepiece continues to maintain a perfect balance of looking both backward and forward for its inspiration.