With the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon presented at this year’s Watches and Wonders, Jaeger-LeCoultre once again showcases its savoir-faire in the field of flat and technically complex movements. At its heart lies the hand-wound manufacture Caliber 847, which unites 254 components in its microcosm measuring just 3.9 millimeters in height. To achieve such modest dimensions, it was necessary to redesign the mechanism of the tourbillon.
The watchmakers at the Grande Maison not only dispensed with the upper bridge to which the balance is normally attached, but also replaced the outer tourbillon cage with a ball-bearing system and attached the balance to the center of the tourbillon. Usually, the balance spring would have been attached to the outer tourbillon cage, but in the absence of such a cage, another solution had to be found.
Jaeger-LeCoultre developed a new S-shaped balance spring, with one end attached to a fixed point in the center of the tourbillon mechanism and the other end attached to the balance. The S-shape prevents the coils of the spring from touching and ensures that the spring is concentric with the tourbillon, which consists of 62 components and weighs just 0.455 grams.
This beautiful regulating organ can be seen both on the front dial, whose silver face has a sunburst shine, and on the back side. In typical Duoface fashion, a second time zone is also displayed there. It is shown on a sunburst black dial that features pink gold dauphine hands and faceted indexes, and is complemented by a day-night display. While the front reflects Art Deco minimalism at its finest, the back shows the opulence of traditional craftsmanship: the dial is partially skeletonized and the gold bridges are hand-guilloched with a “Clous de Paris” pattern. Made up of over 50 individual parts, the pink gold case of the Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon measures 45.5mm x 27.4mm in diameter and has a thickness of 9.15 mm.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Tourbillon is held by a black leather strap and priced at approximately $164,000 when converted to USD.
To learn more, visit Jaeger-LeCoultre, here.
