Jaeger-LeCoultre

amanico
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REVERSO ART DECO, THE REVIEW.

The Reverso Art Deco:

From the early 90's till the end of the 2d Millenary, JLC produced some of the nicest Reversos ever made, in an astonishing LE of 500 pieces:

first, the 60eme, to commemorate as it deserves a watch that without doubt had to be called an ICON, the Reverso, the first of a great watch story, produced in 1931...

So in 1991, came this 60eme:



Then followed the Reverso Tourbillon, another pure Masterpiece, in 1993:



And by another very appealing watch, the Minute Repeater, in 1994:





In 1996, came another very nice watch, the Chronograph, with a magnificient movement:



Then, in 1998 the Geographique, one of the most pleasant one, with its useful and friendly complication:



And the last one, but not the less interesting, the Perpetual Calendar:



So, with these 6 watches housing all the traditionnal possible complications, we easily can say that JLC paid a great hommage to the original model, and even more spectacular, a set was sold at an auction...



Are you shivering, now?

Well, good! LOL

That's not the end...

JLC didn't only made Rose Gold Reversos in LE, but in current production too,in a GT case ( 42 x 26 mm )... Like the Sun Moon, the Date, The Duo Face, and a few others, as it seems that I maybe forgot some in this list...

Always in the GT case and the current production, I can say that the Reverso Art Déco is my all time favourite, which I'd rate as a true competitor even among the LE Rose gold Reversos.





These 2 pics are to be credited to Steve G, of course...

Launched in 1992, this watch, created by Sylvain Golay is a true piece of Art....

The Recto side is an example of simplicity, elegance and purity, in a sophisiticated way...

The dial is perfectly executed, with these applied Rose Gold indexes, the 3 hands, and the 2 different guillochage.









And a Macro of the dial:



The dial is made in massive silver.

I appreciate a lot the blend of round and rectangular parts...

I read somewhere that this was the meeting between the Art Deco, and the Art nouveau, which inspired itself from the voluptuous curves of the Vegetable kingdom.

You have a sober, very classy and elegant outcome, with the major part in silver and this small and discretes touches of Rose Gold.Something timeless, no?

Do you prefer the opposite contrast?

Salmon Rose with small touches of White Gold?

No problem, I have the watch for you! LOL



In this presentation, the time keeper has maybe an older look, due to the specific color of the dial, but not less interesting, IMHO, and to say all, my favourite choice.

This one is the White Gold version, being said that it doesn't exist any other metal, in SS nor in platinum.

But the best is to come, the movement...

Take a caliber 822, which was created in 1991 ( if I'm not wrong ) specificly for the new Reverso Grande Taille.

Then, work on the 116 parts of the caliber to transform it from a nice movement to a true piece of Art.

Only 10 pieces were made per month, as the work on most of the parts of the movement is important.



Do you prefer it, once again, in White Gold?...Here you are:



Nice contrast and combo, as the color of the movement matches the color of the dial, IMHO.

Here are some closer pics of the movement and of the work on it, which allows us to contemplate the great and fine engravings and skeleton...





And now, the whole movement:





The play of the curves, the sublte blend of Rose for the plates, Blue for the screws, and Red for the Jewels, the engravings, the sculpture of all these elements achieve to give an exceptionnal look to this watch, and its name to the caliber: 822 AD for Art Deco....

This is just fascinating.

But, the greatest thing with this watch is the concept of the skeleton...

What I love a lot is the idea of the 2 sides, one classic, timeless, sober, and the other spectacular, artisitic, and the possibility to choose when you want one or the other side...

In another way, I may say that this is not a mandatory skeleton, you see all the time, but, like some other nice JLC complications, you can play when you want with it...As this is the case with the Reverso Tourbillon in Rose Gold or in Platinum...Turn the dial,and escape yourself from the diary obligations, travel in the world of Art, without time, shedules, without nothing except your own pleasure.

Come back to Reality when you want or need to...

I had a lot of pleasure playing with it and taking some pics of it, and while I was doing so, I suddenly understood that this was the ideal solution ofr those who want a Skeleton, but not all the time...

Look at the pics " in situation "...









How can you say NO to this loveley time keeper?

Even the mandatory Wrist Shot pleads for this marvel...Comfortable, well put on the wrist, the only problem is that you don't want to give it back to his owner...LOL



And no problem with the strap, which is a nice croco with a matching folding buckle in WG or RG depending of the color of the case.

Well, if you're lucky enough to find one, as it was produced for ten years ( 1992 - 2002 ), but in only 900 pieces in Rose Gold ( ref: 270.240.623B ), and 200 pieces in White Gold ( ref: 270.340.625B ).

As I previously said, this was a big and pleasant surprise to meet this piece and its owner,and personnally, one of the 3 or 4 nicer Rose Gold ever made.

Hope you will take pleasure too, to view this topic!

Thanks to Patrickh for letting me play with his wonderful watch! Thanks a lot, my friend!

Best.

Nicolas
This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-05-27 07:44:48 This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-05-31 12:53:07

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