2012 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo Face Night/Day 272.8.51
Ref: 272.8.51

Specification

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with an original JLC box & JLC paperwork, as photographed. The watch comes paired with a 19mm black leather strap and the original worn JLC Strap and signed double folded deployment clasp is provided in the box. The watch is from March 2012 and is in worn condition, however, the watch has just come back from a service and light polish. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

Antoine LeCoultre founded LeCoultre in 1833 in the small village of Le Sentier, Switzerland. By 1866, LeCoultre’s workshop had grown from home-run manufacturers spread across Switzerland to installing modern steam-driven machines to power the tools of all of the watchmakers moving them from their homes and bringing them together, in one central unit. Now named LeCoultre & Cie, the company became the very first manufacturer in the Vallée de Joux Switzerland. Antoine and his son Elie LeCoultre employed more than 500 watchmakers in-house. In 1903 Edmond Jaeger, a watchmaker in Paris making watches for the French Navy, challenged the Swiss manufacturers to produce an ultrathin movement. Jacques-David LeCoultre, Elie’s son, rose to the challenge and created the world’s thinnest pocket watch, equipped with the LeCoultre 146 calibre, measuring just 1.38 mm thick. Over the following years, Jaeger and LeCoultre kept in touch, building a solid friendship, and in 1937 Jaeger-LeCoultre was founded. In 2013 it celebrated its 180th Anniversary. They were creating iconic timepieces like the Reverso wristwatch to the brilliantly engineered Atmos clock. During the war years, the Mark VII pilot watches of the 1940s were so accurate that the Royal Air Force used them as aerial navigation instruments; later they created the first automatic watch to house a power-reserve indicator in 1948 that was used by the US Army Air Corps. Jaeger-LeCoultre has developed and revolutionised the watch industry like no other manufacturer. Since 2000 they have been a fully owned subsidiary of the Swiss luxury group Richemont. This group includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC Schaffhausen, Panerai, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Montblanc, Dunhill, and Chloé.

This stunning 2012 Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo Face Night/Day 272.8.51 is clearly inspired by the geometric forms of the 1930s Art deco. The Reverso was first introduced in 1930 it was made for polo players that wanted to protect their watch dials when playing. A 26mm stainless steel rectangular case, its elegant case is polished with deep horizontal lines, creating a classic look. The case gently slopes towards the lugs, its lug-to-lug length of 42mm ensures a comfortable fit on the wrist. On the right side just above the crown is the pusher to advance the Day/Night hand in hourly jumps. The flat rectangular sapphire crystal protects a silver dial with Clous de Paris guilloche finishing, black Arabic numeral indexes mark the hours. Cut into the dial an inner minute track, at 6 o’clock a rectangle sub-seconds register and fine-blued sword hands. The Applied Jaeger-LeCoultre motif sits at 12 o’clock. When you flip the watch a flat sapphire crystal protects a black dial with Clous de Paris guilloche finishing, recessed Arabic 12, 3, and 9 numerals with slim baton indexes marking the hours. At 6 o'clock a day-night register with 24-hour Arabic numeral indexes, perfect for setting when you are travelling and lume-filled sword hands. The case back is perfectly fitted with Reverso engraved into it, inside a manually wound JLC Cal. 854, 21 Jewels 21,600, beats per hour. Fitted on a 19mm black leather strap and the original worn JLC Strap and signed double folded deployment clasp is provided in the box. The watch also comes with its original JLC  presentation box & JLC paperwork.

Personal Note

For me this is the perfect proportions for the JLC Reverso, I find it so elegant whilst also very present on the wrist, the size down is a tad too small for me personally and the larger size I find far too big for a rectangular watch. Add onto that the complication and the fact it is a Duo Face, it just becomes such a wonderful package, especially at the asking price! If you've been after a Reverso, I wouldn't hesitate on this one.