Luxury Watches

Jaeger-LeCoultre debuts its latest tourbillon watch in pink gold

By Mike Huynh

The elegant hue of pink gold finally makes its way onto one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most innovative timepieces. The Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon is the latest creation from the Swiss luxury watchmaker to receive the pink gold treatment – a fine aesthetic touch inspired by the Maison’s first tourbillon wristwatch, the Reverso Tourbillon, introduced 30 years ago.

What’s changed since then is the inclusion of cutting-edge advances in contemporary watchmaking in the form of a sophisticated movement that is both complex and thin. It’s an ingenious flying tourbillon visible on both the front and reverse dial, with the second time zone allocated to the latter.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon

History repeating itself

The year was 1993 when Jaeger-LeCoultre released their first-ever tourbillon movement. Astonishingly, this creation leveraged the Calibre 170 which was developed for the house’s pocket watch back in 1946. The 1993 Reverso Tourbillon would set multiple milestones from its choice of movement and its first use of a rectangular case alongside a shaped movement. From this point on, the Maison’s prowess in tourbillons grew, developing multi-axis tourbillons incorporating a variety of shaped balance springs. Its mastery of this regulating device – which improves timekeeping accuracy by neutralising the effect of gravity on a watch movement – was confirmed in 2009 when Jaeger-LeCoultre watches were awarded first and second places in the International Chronometry Competition.

Today, that expertise continues to make a bold statement, with the development of a series of new configurations, the most recent being the Calibre 847 found in the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon.

An exercise in pure precision

The Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon brings together a flying tourbillon with the Duoface complication. The ultra-thin hand-wound movement comprises 254 components and measures just 3.9mm thick. To achieve this, the watchmakers had to completely redesign the tourbillon mechanism.

Adding to the mechanical elegance of the movement, all settings are controlled through the crown alone. This ensures simplicity of operation for the wearer and also preserves the aesthetic unity of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s signature case.

An exercise in pure practicality

The Duoface concept has been a pillar of the Reverso collection since its introduction in 1994. For this variant, the unique expression of the dual time zone complication is split so that the local time is displayed on the front dial and the home time on the reverse. Visually, the timepiece exudes the elegant spirit of the Maison’s 1930s models. The silver sunray-brushed front dial features faceted hour indexes complemented by Dauphine hands and framed by a chemin de fer minute track. All of these appointments are subtle enough to allow the tourbillon to shine through as the centrepiece. Turning the case over reveals an entirely different persona to the watch. A black sunray brushed dial is enhanced by partial skeletonisation to evoke boldness. The second time zone is indicated by golden hands and indexes on the dial, while above the dial, the night and day indicator features an exquisite starry night sky. The gold bridges hark back to the aesthetics of the 1993 Reverso Tourbillon and are richly textured with Clous de Paris guilloché.

Technical specifications

The Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon comes in a pink gold case that measures just 9.15mm thick. Its frontal dimensions measure 45.5mm x 27.4mm to ensure a svelte appearance on almost any wrist. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Calibe 847 affords hours, minutes, second time zone, night and day, and tourbillon functions. The watch’s power reserve is 38 hours while water resistance is rated at 30 metres. The finishing touch is a black alligator strap which perfectly embodies the essence of timeless prestige.

Visit Jaeger-LeCoultre for more information.