Like most journalists who swarmed the booths at Watches and Wonders earlier this month,Carol Besler saw about a thousand watches in five days. Most were amazing and surprising, some were forgettable, and others stand out as faves.
Judged on the basis of sheer spectacle, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 delivers. Whether presented in the hand or on the arm, the JLC Gyrotourbillon 2 is an event.
Tim Mosso debated writing this installment of his “Watches I’ve Loved” series because it’s better described as deflating restraint and paths not taken. Nobody wants to read about that! But he was in love with many of the watches he shares here.
To my longtime friends in the watch hobby, and perhaps to regular readers here as well, the mention of my name may conjure up a number of connotations: patron of the independents, fan of A. Lange & Söhne, admirer of Patek Philippe grand complications, and longtime customer of Jaeger-LeCoultre, among other characterizations more or less favorable. But vintage?
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s competition i.e., Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet have surged in recent years. They are now all well-recognized brands in broader society, whereas the love for JLC is reserved for true enthusiasts. Raman Kalra explains why.
It’s not easy to have a single product line that spans all the way from entry-level pieces to multimillion-dollar halo watches, but Jaeger-LeCoultre has achieved it with the Reverso. It’s still possible for a young collector to do exactly what GaryG did almost 30 years ago and enter the world of true high horology with a first Reverso purchase.
The early 2000s were exciting times at Jaeger-LeCoultre. 2002 brought the Master Compressor Memovox, a standout then, and still one of the best luxury watch values of today’s marketplace.
Not everyone wants to own an iconic watch. Some want to stand out for their individuality or even go under the radar. Ramon Kalra shares his thoughts on collections from some of the largest watch brands that he doesn’t feel get as much attention as they deserve.
One of Martin Green’s favorite complications is the perpetual calendar, aka QP. While he knows that an annual calendar can do almost the same for a lot less, he is still mesmerized by the human ingenuity of being able to a miniature mechanical device that can even deal with leap years.
Over the 20-odd years that GaryG has been buying “serious” watches, he has purchased more pieces bearing the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand name than any other, by far. Within the Jaeger-LeCoultre pantheon, one watch sub-group stands out for him: the Reverso. Between his wife and he, they’ve bought a total of seven Reverso models. Given that, why add another? In this instance, the Reverso Tribute to 1931?