When it comes to the Reverso, the legendary Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Duetto timepiece with a unique swiveling mechanism, “two-faced” takes on a whole new meaning. Far from being an insidious quality, it’s the very characteristic that has distinguished the wristwatch in the 90 years since it was introduced.
The watch originally featured a solid metal caseback—ostensibly, to help polo players protect the delicate crystal on the face of their watches. In the 1990s, the watchmaker gave the model a bold new look when it introduced the Reverso Duoface. The new style boasted a dial on its reverse side with a second time zone display that, for all intents and purposes, allowed the wearer to enjoy two different watches within the same timepiece. (Ingeniously, the same movement powered both sets of hands.)
The Duoface eventually spawned the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Duetto, which has taken the double-dial concept to new heights. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Duetto has refined the Duetto Medium model—the case measures 40 x 24 mm—by replacing its hand-wound movement with the automatic manufacture Calibre 968A (which comes with a 38-hour power reserve). The watchmaker has also introduced the diamond-set piece in two color and metal variations: a steel model on a blue alligator strap with a blue reverse dial, and an 18-karat pink gold model on a taupe alligator strap with a glossy black lacquer reverse dial.
The dual personalities of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Duetto are evident in its two strikingly different faces. On the light-colored front dial, a chemin de fer minute track frames a central rectangle decorated with a sunray guilloché pattern; applied Arabic numerals line the periphery. On the darker-colored reverse dial, the numeral “12” appears atop a sunray-brushed central circle defined by a fine golden or steel ring (to match the case material). A sunray pattern of deeply etched guillochage radiates from the center, where a small aperture reveals the oscillating mass.
On both the front and reverse faces, 60 grain-set diamonds (totaling 0.84 ct.) decorate the signature gadroons on the upper and lower edges of the case.
