Reverso : la légende vivante de Jaeger-LeCoultre – Manfred Fritz (book)

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Reverso: The Living Legend of Jaeger-LeCoultre (book) by Manfred Fritz – Braus Editions – Oct. 1992. 1992. French edition. Hardcover, 347 pages, in very good condition. Dust jacket slightly creased at one corner. Dimensions : 24 x 32 x 3 cm / 9.44×12.59×1.18 inches. Weight : 2,8 kg / 6.17 lbs.

This is a definitive book on the history of the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture and especially on its iconic Reverso model (the Art Deco reversible watch created in 1931 for polo players).
It covers:
– The history of the Reverso.
– The JLC manufacture.
– Historical and technical models.
– Numerous photographs of watches, archives, etc.
This book is highly regarded by collectors of luxury watches. It is available in several languages ​​(this one is in French).

The concept that would give rise to the Reverso originated in 1930 at a British polo club in colonial India. César de Trey, a Swiss citizen and distributor of luxury watches, was visiting the country on business. After a polo match, one of the players—a British army officer—showed de Trey his timepiece with a shattered crystal and challenged him to develop a model robust enough to withstand the shocks of playing polo without being damaged. César de Trey envisioned solving this problem with a reversible watch and entrusted the project to Jacques-David LeCoultre, with whom he already had extensive business dealings.

Since the LeCoultre Manufacture had little experience in case manufacturing at the time, Jacques-David LeCoultre turned to his Parisian partner, Edmond Jaeger, who tasked the engineer René-Alfred Chauvot with bringing the project to fruition. On March 4, 1931, René Chauvot filed a patent with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for a “watch capable of sliding within its support and turning on itself.” Thanks to this mechanism, the wearer could rotate the case 180 degrees to protect the dial. On July 25, 1931, the contract was signed by which René Chauvot definitively relinquished his rights in exchange for a cash payment of 10,000 Swiss francs, plus 2.5 Swiss francs for each watch sold with a case of his design. The revolutionary idea was named Reverso—from the Latin “I turn around.”

Additional photos are available in the upper left corner. Feel free to browse them! — Click on one to see a larger, close-up view!

Want to pay in Euros? Before placing your order, click the orange word “French” located just below the main product photo. This instantly switches the page to the French version with prices in €.