But before we talk more about the new dial options let’s recap the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Big Duo Little Second watch. It comes in a stainless steel case and steps 47mm by 28.3mm and is 10.3mm thick, which means it is very modestly sized. It’s two faces – therefore the Duo name – driven by a single motion, allowing it to display time in two time zones. Water-resistance is 30 meters.The movement inside is your hand-wound JLC Calibre 854A/2, which is a fairly simple movement that beats in 3Hz and is made from 160 parts with 19 stone. Power book is a standard-range 40 hours.The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Large Duo Small Second watch includes two dials that the wearer may flip between together with the watch still on the wrist (in the event you are unfamiliar with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso theory). The main witness dial is in silver and includes a vertical brushed finish and a hands guilloche centre with a tiny seconds indicator at 6 o’clock. The hands are blued for an extra bit of elegance. All in all, like most other Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso watches, the primary dial of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Big Duo Little Second oozes lots of Art Deco cool and elegance.If you flip the case around, you’ll be greeted with the second Traveling Time dial. On the regular Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Classic Big Duo Little Secondly watch, this dial includes Clous de Paris engraving and a handy day/night indicator. But now, there are 3 new dial choices comprising exotic stones. Let us get into these three new dial options right now.
Complicated ladies’ watches designed from the ground up are uncommon, but the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater is exactly that.
Complicated watchmaking is still a world dominated by men, which is what makes the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater rare. It’s a minute repeater freshly conceived for the female client, instead of being a smaller version of a men’s watch. Moreover, rather than using a movement from a men’s minute repeater wristwatch, the Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater is equipped with a new movement designed to fit into a smaller case (albeit a very thick one). Floral with a hint of Art Nouveau, the blue dial is made of a disc of solid gold and engraved with a floral motif in relief, with the leaves set with round diamonds. The recessed area is engraved with a fine radial guilloche, and covered in pale blue vitreous enamel, essentially glass melted and fused in an oven.
The tiny bubbles visible in the enamel prove it’s fired enamel and not merely lacquer, though the proliferation of bubbles is explained by the fact that it’s a prototype |
Diamonds are also found on the case, lugs, crown and even the button for the minute repeater. The case is white gold and a modest 39mm in diameter, but a substantial 12.2mm thick. In fact it’s nearly as thick as a Lange Datograph, a substantially sized men’s chronograph that’s 13.1mm high. The height is apparent from the profile of the watch, which reveals a wide case base and unusually thick bezel on top of it.
The reason for the case height is the movement, developed to suit the smaller diameter of a ladies’ watch. The calibre 942 inside is a modular construction, meaning the minute repeating mechanism is a plate added on top of an ordinary base movement, hence the height.
The button is shaped like a slide |
The downside of such a construction is not just thickness – the intricacies of the minute repeater mechanism are hidden. In a typical minute repeater with an integrated mechanism everything is revealed on the reverse, like on the Vacheron Constantin calibre 1731.
Visible from the display back, the view of the 942 is essentially the same as what you see in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s entry level men’s watch, the Master Control Date since the base movement is the same. It’s a robust movement that’s the latest in family of movements that have evolved since the 1980s.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first minute repeater for female clients could have been better. By comparison, its closest competitor, the Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Wish, is far more elaborate in concept and execution. Admittedly the Poetic Wish costs double the Ivy but justifiably so. The Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater is a limited edition of 88 pieces, priced at €202,000 before taxes.