Jaeger-LeCoultre

So you may have understood now that the original reason for all these is a celebration. 1931 saw the birth of a watch that became an icon, a real icon, one of the very few real icons of the watch amateurs, and to some extent beyond the realm of watch amateurs.

Celebrating this watch has been essential in its own life. 1991, already twenty years ago, saw the apparition of the Reverso GT, through the Reverso 60eme. The Reverso GT is now the modern classic Reverso size, while the Reverso Classic remains closer to the original Reverso size.

The Reverso 60eme was already a complicated Reverso sporting a date and a power reserve indicator. It was followed in the years after by 5 other limited editions of pink gold Reverso models that explored the complication world. They were the tourbillon, the minute repeater, the chronograph, the Geographique, the perpetual calendar.

So the 60eme was not just the launch symbol of a new era of modernized Reverso size, but also the celebration of what made also the greatness of La Grande Maison, its mastership of complications and inventiveness. Many other Reverso models have perpetuated this spirit and especially the 70eme that also introduced a larger case size Reverso XGT declined later in many iterations. The Reverso a Triptyque followed, bringing the concept of complication to an extreme ( jlc.watchprosite.com ?show=forumpost&fi=2π=2148577&ti=335677&msid=&s=), while the Gyrotourbillon 2 gave a somewhat more classical and mesmerizing option to the more moderate wrists (it's my favourite you know jlc.watchprosite.com ).

The Squadra range was a more radical, more sporting and more accessible development. The Grande Reverso was also an interesting large option for the larger wrists.

The newly launched Grande Reverso Ultra Thin, and especially the Tribute to 1931, are bringing back the original spirit of the Reverso, an elegance sometimes forgotten, a practicality of a plain back reversed to the top when necessary and so often abandoned for other functional reasons. The new case design seems to be the best proportioned one since the Reverso GT twenty years ago. The vintage dial design of the Tribute to 1931 is the cherry on the SIHH cake this year.

Still an 80^th anniversary needed a complimentary watch for the Reverso fans also keen to celebrate the inventiveness of Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Repetition Minutes a Rideau was conceived for them!

So the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Repetition Minutes a Rideau is the second minute repeating Reverso in history. If the first watch appealed by the rarity of the complication at the time and the first of a form repeating calibre, it was not recognized as the best sounding minute repeater at that time. It was the first serially produced wrist minute repeater for the manufacture, and as such there were new constraints due to the very limited volume of the calibre. If the result was a "tour de force" at that time, the work done by the manufacture since then and the result shown for instance by the Master Minute Repeater and recently by the Duometre a Grande Sonnerie have proved that the subject could be largely explored and developed;

Repeaters are evaluated on several aspects: volume of sound, tone, clarity, rhythm of chime principally. The new Reverso Repetition Minutes a Rideau has considerably improved upon the first Reverso repeater. Let's see what that means.

The new repeater shares several aspects with the first one, and not just the name. The base calibre is in fact the same, even if it's differently laid out in terms of bridge design. The base is the ultra thin calibre reference 849 well known for the Master Ultra Thin. This calibre is an excellent base. It has been redesigned to accommodate the need for a larger plate (and the complimentary set of hour and minute hands on the back side), but the wheel axes are the same. The bridge design is considered as more modern and certainly is. This is not an aspect I will laud as I'm not too fan of such modern designs, but I will let you make your own opinion as it is not essential, and it's obviously quite personal. You will also notice the guilloche decoration already seen in the Gyrotourbillon 2.

The positive aspect of this base calibre, out of the fact that it is largely tried and tested, is the thinness. The base calibre is 1.85mm thick. That leaves some room for more without the risk of obviously ending with a burger.

In fact the final result is quite acceptable in terms of volume, and especially thickness as you can see below.

The full size is 55x35mm, and 12mm thick. As a comparison, the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 that I once again find wearable (contrarily to the Reverso a Triptyque) is 55x36mm with a thickness of 14.5mm for the reversible case alone, that is probably overall close to half more than the Repetition a Minutes thickness.

The power reserve of the watch is still of 35 hours as the base calibre was not changed in its general specifications. The frequency is a moderate 6 hertz (21600 vibrations per hour).

The full calibre (repeater module included) comprises 340 parts (among them 35 jewels). The full calibre thickness is 5.89mm, so the repeater plate alone must be around 4mm thick.

On its side the case comprises 270 parts, an impressive number due to some specific technical aspects we will see later in this subject.

Let's begin in fact. You may wonder what is meant by "a rideau"? In fact "rideau" means blind. When on rest the watch face, or face dial, is hidden behind a white gold blind made of 16 slats, each 2.34mm wide. This curtain plays to some extent the role of the plain back of the original Reverso models. The curtain slides laterally when you push it manually to the left. The face dial - if it can be called a dial as there is no dial in fact, but the view to a superb minute repeating ruthenium coated plate topped by a pair of hour and minute hands – appears when you want to see it.

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If you drop the curtain it is brought back in place, fully blind, by a spring located vertically in the reversible case, at the upper left corner, and wound by the passage of the upper part of the slots when you have opened it.

But you don't wind only one spring when you open the curtain, but also a second one, namely the repeater module spring, activated by a lever on the left side of the calibre. In fact when you wind the first spring with the curtain movement, that also makes turn an empty pipe hidden on the left side of the reversible case. This pipe is an endless screw that can turn but not move and that sports a pinion that is pushed down the screw by the rotation. The descent of this pinion along the screw pushes the repeater lever and consequently winds the repeater spring.

If the curtain is pushed open enough and consequently the repeater spring is wound enough by the action, the "all-or-nothing" mechanism releases the repeater module when the curtain is let go back closed. And the watch can begin to ring!

The repeater module is considerably evolved from the original version of 1993. Jaeger-LeCoultre has now a considerable experience in wrist repeaters and such experience is brought to this watch. First of all the repeater spring is much more powerful than the original one. A more powerful spring is essential to increase the volume of the sound. The spring is visible below.

This more powerful spring is powering a traditional repeating train but the end of the train has changed. The traditional hammers are now replaced by the hammers "a Trebuchet" launched in the Duometre a Grande Sonnerie and seen also in the Master Grande Tradition Grande complication last year. These hammers "a trebuchet" (here explained and pictured by Amanico: jlc.watchprosite.com ) allow an easier setting of the hammers (the distance at rest from the gong doesn't need to be as precisely settled as with a traditional hammer) and provide a better sound. The strike length is shorter with the hammers a Trebuchet, and the hammers strike only once, there is no return strike or perturbation of the sound by the hammers after the strike.

The main difference with a traditional hammer comes from the Trebuchet (what a surprise). While a traditional hammer is monobloc and can be temporarily bent during the strike, loosing consequently some power, the hammer a Trebuchet is made in two main parts. The first one is stopped by a slot during the strike and the second part, fixed to the first and kept in line by a little spring (seen below above the trebuchet on the picture), rotates independently to strike the gong. The striking is apparently more efficient.

The gongs are also different from the original ones as they have a square section (instead of round). With a square section they seem to have a better interaction with the hammer when it strikes. You can see the gongs below.

The repeater plate below is not fully assembled. You can still see how complicated a repeater calibre is, this repeater module comprising alone (without the base calibre) more than 200 pieces. This is for some reason that repeating watches are considered as the summit of horology. This new watch brings another face to the summit.

You can see below between ten and eleven the lever that winds the repeater spring, emerging from below the gong.

The governor below with its two round rubies inserted in platinum "bananas", is greatly improved from the original version that looked nearly the same. In fact you may notice a steel ring inside which the bananas can rotate. This steel ring is perfectly polished, such as the jewels. The original calibre had a very noisy governor and the steel ring put here seems to have made disappear the sound known on the old governors. I can attest that on the watch listened I couldn't hear the governor.

The governor is the device that gives the rhythm to the striking, or to the delivery of power by the repeater spring.

In fact this Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Repetition Minutes a Rideau was a good surprise. The technical evolution is quite excellent. The watch doesn't incorporate all the improvements invented by JLC on this field in the last years, but so many to be quite appealing.

The only aspect missing in fact is the crystal gongs set on the sapphire. As the curtain is moving back at rest while the watch strikes, the watchmakers thought that it was not a good idea to make the top sapphire transmit the sound as it would be progressively hidden during the striking. Consequently the striking is transmitted through the case.

While it is obviously a large watch, you can imagine looking above and specially below that it is a reasonably large watch that can be worn by moderate to large wrists.

Please note that the picture below shows the back side of the watch where appears the base calibre and a set of hands to read the time without opening the curtain.

I find the closed Venetian blind to be particularly intriguing. Someone knowing the principle of the Reverso would be tempted to reverse it, but the opening of the blind reserves a larger surprise!

The Venetian blind is also said to be an homage to the links between Jaeger-LeCoultre and the city of Venice. As we would say I French , with this watch "Jaeger-LeCoultre fait son cinema", meaning that it makes a great scene! It seems acceptable after linking itself so much with the best cinema world. Honestly I can't wait to see a production watch as we had little chance to operate this prototype (that was finished in last minute for the show).

To some extent the picture below makes me think of a Rolls-Royce radiator grille. This is not exactly the spirit of the brand, but it is indeed a very fascinating object made with great care.

The inside look will bring us more to a modern world, to a world of technology, of mechanics. This is the best world of horology in my opinion.

The modernized style of the base calibre below finally conveys well the message. Things are changing, always. You can't rest. Icons have to improve, to astonish each time more. This one does it all!

The front view will always be a short image to catch, like if the life couldn't stop anymore, like if the world was accelerating more and more.

But you can always stop the time, open the curtain and let the sound of the time penetrate your mind. You can decide to mark the passing time!

The Reverso legend lives on ! Long lives the Reverso.

Dje