{"id":26139,"date":"2021-03-27T18:23:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T18:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/jaeger-lecoultre-reverso-tribute-moon-sihh-2017-live\/"},"modified":"2023-07-09T11:03:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-09T09:03:22","slug":"jaeger-lecoultre-reverso-tribute-moon-2017-hands-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/en\/jaeger-lecoultre-reverso-tribute-moon-2017-hands-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Moon watches hands-on"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I think about Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong>, my thought goes straight to the Reverso<\/strong>; a historic and inseparable association.\u00a0This model follows a \u201cbold<\/em>\u201d request from a British officer based in India<\/strong> that he made in the 20s, the man broke the glass of his watch during a polo match so he asked C\u00e9sar de Trey<\/strong> (a salesman of dentures but also an avid and passionate collector of timepieces) whether he could suggest a sports watch that could both be worn during polo matches and that would also appear smart when wrapped around the wrist.<\/p>\n

\"Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Tribute-Moon\"Once back to\u00a0Switzerland<\/strong>, C\u00e9sar de Trey<\/strong> got in touch with Jacques-David LeCoultre<\/strong> and asked him whether he could craft a timepiece with the characteristics described above. In close collaboration with his good friend Edmond Jaeger<\/strong> (a manufacturer of chronometers in Paris<\/strong>) and the designer Ren\u00e8-Alfred Chavout<\/strong>, he came up with the Reverso<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This sober and elegant model, which is also practical and sporty at the same time, was created from a patent deposited on 4<\/strong>th<\/sup> March 1931<\/strong> by Ren\u00e8\u2013Alfred Chauvot<\/strong>, who, for this timepiece, was inspired by the perfect Art Dec\u00f2<\/strong> style.<\/p>\n

\"Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Tribute-Moon-7\"Watches from that time were too fragile to withstand the sports of the past (polo, skiing and car racing) but by mounting the watch\u2019s case on a sturdy base that could rotate by 180 degrees, the glass and the dial could be protected against bumps. The case<\/strong> was made up of 30 elements<\/strong> refined one by one and was so well thought out that it required no further modifications for the next 50 years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Another advantage was that the side of the case-back could be customized with an emblem or other engravings. Probably, had it not been for the frailty of the glass from the past, this model wouldn\u2019t have been so successful or, maybe, it wouldn\u2019t have even been invented.<\/p>\n

\"Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Tribute-Moon-4\"The arrival of the second world war moved the design towards round timepieces, while the arrival of quartz in the 70s marked the \u201cend<\/em>\u201d of mechanic timepieces and Art Dec\u00f2 shaped and styled. In 1972<\/strong>, Giorgio Corvo<\/strong> (an important Italian retailer of timepieces) came across 200 unused Reverso cases<\/strong> in the manufacturing plant, he purchased the whole lot and assembled them with mechanic movements to then sell them in Italy<\/strong>. He was so successful that Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong>\u00a0relaunched the new Reverso<\/strong> line in 1982<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In 1985<\/strong>, the case was improved even further, it was made waterproof and the parts moved from the original 30 parts<\/strong> to a more complex amount of 50 parts<\/strong> that make the case one of the more complicated cases ever built in the world of watch-making. This year also, the manufacturer is paying a tribute to this model by launching the stainless-steel made Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso\u00a0Tribute Moon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On a simple but elegant silver-coloured dial with a fine grained decoration and hand-applied blue indices, there is a splendid moon with craters and a starred sky located at 6 o\u2019clock; the moon is gold in colour and it comes with a pointer-date and a hand\u00a0whose tip is in the shape of a crescent moon.<\/p>\n

\"Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Tribute-Moon-5\"The concept of the original protection has disappeared on this model for technical\/aesthetic reasons and to leave room to the second time zone<\/strong> on the case-back or, more correctly said, to the second dial.<\/strong> For many years it had focused more on aesthetic variations than technical ones.<\/p>\n

This complication was born in 1994<\/strong> and it uses a single movement to set the hands of the second time zone into motion in the right direction, on two opposing dials, by using a transmission system with gears going through the centre of the movement and by setting into motion the hands of the second time zone and making them turn in the opposite direction than the case\u2019s support. Once turned towards the top, the moving direction turns into the correct direction and everything is decorated with oblique lines in an Art Dec\u00f2<\/strong> style.<\/p>\n

\"Jaeger-LeCoultre-Reverso-Tribute-Moon-6\"The time-adjusting is simplified by a cursor present on the back-case (or the lever) that moves forward by 1 hour the second time zone and the day\/night<\/strong> disc on this version. The dial clearly clashes with the main one due to the deep blue colour on a \u201cClous de Paris<\/em>\u201d decoration on the rims with silver-coloured indices, in the centre are a smooth opaline finishing and a sun\/moon disc with \u201cNight & Day<\/em>\u201d writings on the sides.<\/p>\n

This refined calibre is named 853A<\/strong> and is manual<\/strong>, it features 19 rubies<\/strong> and a single barrel<\/strong>. The calibre runs at a frequency of 21,600 oscillations<\/strong> and it lies within a generous-sized case with not too excessive dimensions (49,4mm by 29,9mm and 10,9mm thick), it comes with a blue leather strap.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, you can opt for a strap with red stitching called \u201cTrieste<\/em>\u201d and a classic strap made of black crocodile skin. Jaeger-LeCoultre<\/strong>\u2018s ability to renew and complicate this model while keeping it its same self seems endless. In my opinion, they could leave on the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso\u00a0Tribute Moon<\/strong>\u00a0the writing \u201cReverso<\/em>\u201d only (like they did on the Grande\u00a0Reverso Tribute to 1931 Ultra-Thin<\/strong> and on the Duoface<\/strong> from some years ago) but I don\u2019t dislike this version either. I find the retail price (13,500<\/strong> euro<\/strong>) matching the value and the crafting difficulty.<\/p>\n