jrwong23 (aka watchthebin) offers an exclusive look into a recent collectors' gathering in Singapore with Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert. This post is invaluable for understanding the brand's direction under Lambert's renewed leadership and provides a first-hand account of interacting with new JLC novelties, including the highly anticipated Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater. jrwong23's detailed observations on sound quality and dial aesthetics offer critical insights for collectors considering these significant pieces.
What a pleasure catching up with Jerome Lambert last evening! Last time we met in person was in 2014 or 2015 in Singapore.
Jerome is probably my most admired leader in the watch industry having previously witnessed him in action as Montblanc’s CEO and personally interacted with him in Watches and Wonders back in 2014 when it was held in Hong Kong (with the then SIHH in Geneva) as well as on 3 occasions in Singapore when he visited us.
It has been awhile but last evening, I could once again experience up close his intense passion for fine watchmaking when he personally demonstrated the new Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater to a few of us one on one, and of course, we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with him on the golden age of JLC during his first term as CEO. Now that he has returned to this role, I look forward to the next few years and seeing what this grand Maison has to offer under Jerome’s leadership once again !
Some pics and a YouTube link to share on the minute repeater. Personally I felt the sound was very crisp but on the softer side volume wise. Not sure if the non round case, the gasket and 30m water resistance on a rectangular case made this more challenging to achieve both volume and crispness of the sound. The blue grand feu enamel guilloche dial on the front is very very nice ! It has the same shade of blue as the Reverso Tribute Chronograph which my elder brother owns and wore last evening so we could compare. The reverse is of course showing off a beautifully finished minute repeater movement.
And the new Duofaces in black and blue as well as the Geographic, which I wore to the gathering. Ended up my watch was loaned by the boutique to share with other collectors as they only had 1 prototype to go around lol. Fortunately I swapped my strap to the blue canvas Casa Fagliano strap so it didn’t get confused with the boutique’s prototype (in the original blue calf CF strap). I also wore my Reverso Nonantieme for the evening and it so happens JLC Singapore didn’t have the new Nonantieme Enamel prototype to show case so that was another watch I lent for the evening for collectors to have a rough feel on how the new Nonantieme looks and feel.
Nico, I sent your regards to Jerome! He says Hi and it has been a long time! He still remembers purists fondly 
Some pics to share and a video link. Enjoy! For more pics of the Reverso Tribute Duofaces and Geographic, you can also see my previous posts here:
Cheers
Robin
Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater
