The Reverso
The history of the "Reverso" begins in 1930 in India. Cesar de Trey, a Swiss traveler, conceived the idea of a watch that could be turned over to protect its dial and crystal from the dangers common watches faced on the dusty polo fields in the then British colony. Back in Switzerland, he approached the LeCoultre company in Le Sentier with his ideas. The watch case was developed by the Jaeger company in France, who asked French designer and engineer, René-Alfred Chauvet, to prepare the drawings for its production. Chauvet applied for Patent No. 712868 at the French Ministry of Trade and Industry on March 4th, 1931 and finally a patent was granted for the new design of a rectangular watch case that could be swiveled around, so that the solid case back protected the delicate mineral crystal from breakage. The new "Reverso" watch was destined to be in the stores for Christmas 1931 and LeCoultre envisioned a production of 5,000 timepieces altogether. Instead, the watch became one of the company's most famous models. Today, more than 70 years later, its case has been carefully optimized, but its character remains unchanged. Embodying the style of the Art Deco period, the clean lines and the high quality of the "Reverso" watch have made it Jaeger LeCoultre's leading model. The company has carefully extended the line to offer the greatest variety possible of one of the most characteristic and famous timepieces in wristwatch history. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the "Reverso", in 1991, Jaeger LeCoultre introduced a limited edition model of only 500 examples in 18K pink gold in a larger, "Grande Taille" case, that became the first one of 6 limited models released in the following years. Each edition featured a special complication or technical innovation, that had not been realized in a "Reverso" until that time, offering maximum functionality in a minimum of space. In 2002, the "Platinum One" became the first "Reverso" made with a platinum case.