Think of a non-round mechanical wristwatch and the first thing that should come to mind is the Reverso. It is the prototypical rectangular watch, with a storied past and an epic present. From its more humble beginnings as a wristwatch on the polo fields of India, the Reverso now serves as a canvas for artistry and plays host to heavy horological complications. The modern day Reverso as we know it came about in the 1990s. In 1991, the Reverso Soixantième was introduced to commemorate the Reverso’s 60th birthday, and it was the first Reverso to be fitted with complications. This then led to the Reverso Tourbillon in 1993, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first tourbillon watch; and the Reverso Minute Repeater in 1994, which was not only the brand’s first minute repeater, it also featured the world’s first rectangular minute repeater movement. The brand has come far since then in terms of minute repeater tech.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater
Jaeger-LeCoultre don’t do Reverso minute repeaters often at all, but every time they do, you’ll notice incremental improvements to mechanics. This year, the brand has done just that and the newcomer is packed with patented innovations as expected. Here, we bring you the details and our thoughts on the novel Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater.
The Case, Dial, and Hands
The case of the new Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater measures a sizeable 51.1mm lug-to-lug with a width and thickness of 31.0mm and 12.6mm, respectively. You don’t see too many outsized Reversos, but given what this one’s packing under the hood, at least it’s for a good reason. Rendered in pink gold, the case is otherwise typical in design: the rectangular shape, the swivel mechanism, the horizontal gadroons, and the front-and-back crystals (for duoface Reversos). There’s also the atypical: a slider just above the crown, a tell tale sign that this is a minute repeater.
The fun really begins when you get to the dials. The front dial is dressed up, prim and proper. It is not only hand-guilloched with a barleycorn pattern, but also decorated, in addition, with blue enamel, an endeavor made possible by the brand’s Métiers Rares department. Things are kept simple on this side, with only the applied hour markers and dauphine hands (all in pink gold) standing out against the teal backdrop. Flip the case over and you are greeted with yet another barrage of watchmaking artistry. Here, a fully openworked dial reveals the partially openworked repeater movement that drives the watch. An almost identical set of hands and hour markers are seen on this side as well, but more importantly you get to see the hammers in action when the repeater is activated. The bridges supporting these hammers are painted with blue lacquer. The railroad-style minute track above it is also given the same decorative treatment. Together, they appear to frame the time-telling portion of the ‘dial’.
The Movement
Driving the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater is the newly developed, in-house Calibre 953. The movement features no fewer than seven patented innovations including the well-known ones like the crystal gong (where the gongs are attached to the sapphire crystal for improved sound transfer), the trebuchet hammers (for efficient striking), and the silent interval elimination (no awkward pause between hour and minute strikes). It has a decent 48 hours of power reserve when fully wound. Jaeger-LeCoultre minute repeater movements have typically been loud and clear – which is hardly surprising given the patented innovations involved – and the novel Calibre 953 is no different. It even shares the same weakness as its predecessors: the lack of musicality. To be fair, there are barely a handful of manufacturers out there capable of making a repeater that is loud, clear AND musical. You kind of feel and hope that Jaeger-LeCoultre, with their vast know-how and significant resources, will get there too. But evidently, that’s too soon for the 2025 Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater.
In terms of finissage, it’s as good as it gets from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Apart from the blue lacquering on the aforementioned bridge, there are other decorations applied that one might be more used to seeing from the brand. Notable examples include the ‘JL’ openworked mainspring barrel, the partially openworked bridges, the extensive beveling and polishing of edges, inward and outward angles, and straight graining of bridge surfaces. All in all, the movement has a refined industrial look to it.
YouTube video of the JLC Reverso Trubute Minute Repeater striking
The Competitive Landscape
In a world where the sports watch is king, watches with high complications like the minute repeater become a niche in the market. Commercially producing a minute repeater requires specialist expertise and sizeable resources – two things that not every luxury watchmaker has. There’s also the consideration that minute repeater watches don’t typically pay the bills (it’s always the base models that do) so that’s one less incentive to start. So, really, minute repeaters are like a vanity project. For the brands, it boosts their reputation as watchmakers. For the enthusiasts and connoisseurs, we get to enjoy one of mechanical watchmaking’s most evocative and beloved complications. So where does the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater, priced at USD299,000 and limited to 30 pieces, stand in the grand scale of things?
The old Master Grande Tradition Minute Repeater with its anomalous 15-day power reserve serves as a good point of reference. When it comes to similarities, it, too, is satisfyingly loud and clear, but lacks musicality. Importantly, it also features the brand’s crystal gong innovation, which allows sound to be transmitted so effectively despite the watch’s 5 bar water resistance (a rarity for minute repeaters even today). The Master Grande Tradition does have silent intervals between hours and minutes, however, which the Reverso has shed. The former also came from a time before the brand’s trebuchet hammer – only repeater movements post-2009 like the Calibre 953 could benefit from this innovation. In a nutshell, the Master Grande Tradition Minute Repeater is clearly audible (over even traffic noise) but suffers from the dreaded awkward pause and a lack of musicality. It is an absolutely solid and practical minute repeater but with the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater, its clear that Jaeger-LeCoultre repeaters have improved since the early 2000s – well, apart from melody.
For a minute repeater that excels in melody, look no further than the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater. I had the pleasure of a live demonstration from the kind staff at the Geneva boutique in 2017 and I can attest that the chimes from the Patrimony Ultra-Thin Minute Repeater still resonate clearly in my mind. Each tone was beautifully articulated. The chimes were more artistic and evocative compared to the clinical strikes on the gong of a Jaeger-LeCoultre repeater. Though unable to reach the amplitudes that a contemporary Jaeger-LeCoultre minute repeater can, the volume of the Patrimony was very respectable, even more so considering that it is one of the thinnest minute repeaters in the market. A superior repeater movement with superior craftsmanship, it is no surprise that the watch cost SGD633,400 at its debut – 10 years ago.
Final Thoughts
The Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater is many things, but boring is the one thing that it isn’t. It’s non-round, it swivels, it showcases a myriad of decorative techniques, and of course, it sings. Sure it’s not perfect – it doesn’t sing very sweetly – but there’s so much to love about the watch that it’s okay. One innovation at a time, Jaeger-LeCoultre inches slowly towards the perfect minute repeater. You get the feeling that one day the brand will catch up with the likes of Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe in producing the very best minute repeater wristwatches. For now, we savour the rare and patent-packed timepiece that is the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater.
