Here we are... It was not a secret that 2016 will be the year of the Reverso, as we celebrate its 85th birthday.
Speculations lasted all this year on what would be the collection, what changes would we witness, and so on.
Maybe we'll have a bit more to see at the SIHH, but here is a preview on the 2016 collection, for you eyes and submitted to your comments.
The new Reverso collection is now divided in two categories, the Classic, and the Tribute.
1/ THE CLASSIC: A new family of watches, from the basic models to the Duo.
A/ The Classic: The Basics.
Here, you have three different sizes case.
- Small : 34 x 21 x 7, 40 mm.
- Medium: 40 x 24, 4 x 9 mm.
- Large: 45, 6 x 27, 4 x 9, 70 mm.
And two different movements:
- For the small case, a Quartz movement, Cal 657 made of 43 pieces.
- For the medium and large case, the automatic Cal 965: 197 parts, 38 hours power reserve, beating at 28800 alternances per hour.
The dial is well known: Silver brushed and guilloché, heated blue hands.
As for the verso side, it is solid, so you can engrave whatever you want. Your imagination is the limit.
Here, for example, and it is just an example, a 85th birhday decoration:
These Reverso will come with a black alligator strap and a folding buckle. A steel bracelet is avalaible for the " Small " only.
B/ The Classic Duo and Duetto.
Duo for him, Duetto for her.
For him:
Two versions, the steel and the rose gold. The case is 47 x 28, 3 x 11, 6 mm.
The dial side shows the hours, minutes, night and day indicator on 24 hours, while the back side displays the second time zone.
The recto receives a silver brushed and guilloché decoration plus transferred numbers, when the verso has a hobnail guilloché motif and white hour markers.
The movement is automatic, Cal 969, 229 parts, 38 hours power reserve, 28800 alternances per hour.
For her, the Reverso Duetto comes in two sides:
Small: 34, 2 x 21 x 8, 7 mm.
Medium: 40 x 24 x 9, 6 mm.
In steel or rose gold, as she wants.
For the small version, the movement is the Cal 844, manual winding, made of 100 parts, beating at 21600 alternances per hour.
The medium houses an automatic movement, the Cal 968A, made of 207 parts, beating at 28800 alternances per hour.
Hours and minutes on both sides. Silver brushed and soleillé dial on the recto, soleillé black and smooth black dial on the verso.
II/ THE TRIBUTES:
Here the word Tribute has a different meaning from what we used to see at Jaeger Lecoultre, before. I would rather call it " Fiction Tribute ", as there was no existing models as these in the vintage JLC world. But it uses some aesthetic key codes from the former Tribute to Reverso Collection.
There are two pieces, for the moment, the Reverso Tribute Duo, and the Reverso Tribute Calendar. The common detail is that, for the moment, this collection uses manual winding movements.
A/ The Reverso Tribute Calendar.
This model is available in rose gold only. The case is 49, 4 x 29, 9 x 12, 06 mm.
The recto dial displays the hours, minutes, triple calendar and moonphase on an opaline grained dial with hand applied hour markers.
The verso shows a second time zone plus a night and day indicator on an anthracite hobnail dial with gilt hour markers.
The movement is the manual winding Cal 853, 283 parts, 45 hours power reserve, beating at 21600 alternances per hour.
B/ The Reverso Tribute Duo:
I can already bet that this will be the most popular piece from this collection.
First because of the case dimensions, which are 42, 8 x 25, 5 x 9, 15 mm.
Then because the dials are superb.
The recto clearly reminds the stamped dial of the Tribute to Reverso 1948, with its opaline grained dial receiving hand applied blue hour markers, showing the hours, minutes, small seconds. The Verso has a superb blue hobnail dial and silver hour markers, displaying the second time zone, and the 24 hours night and day indicator.
Finally, because the main issue of the former Reverso Duo was its pushers, which is replaced by a small trigger on the case under 6 o clock, which disappears while the flipping case is closed. Smart.
This watch is available in steel only.
The movement is the manual winding Cal 854 A/2, made of 180 parts, offering a 45 hours power reserve, and beating at 21600 alternances per hour.
Conclusion:
The new collection comes with 8 different sizes case, blends manual and automatic movements.
The good thing is that Jaeger-Lecoultre didn't give up with manual movements. There are a lot of fans, here.
The confusion may come from the different sizes for the cases. Not easy to sum nor to rationalize. On the other side, there will be a Reverso for each wrist.
I will need to see all these new versions in the real world, which will be quite soon. Of course I will write detailed reports on each of them.
And maybe we'll have some other surprises, at the SIHH?
Best,
Nicolas
This message has been edited by amanico on 2015-12-14 03:28:17 This message has been edited by amanico on 2015-12-14 03:30:04 
