In order to respect the philosophy dear to the brand – the product is the best ambassador for the Manufacture – the Jaeger-LeCoultre management team understood that this anniversary model had to be truly exceptional.
All the important people were gathered around the project, including Janek Deleskiewicz, Head of Design. His first idea was to give the watch a transparent caseback, for the first time, so that the movement could be admired. The idea of creating a new solid gold calibre specifically for this new timepiece, which could be produced in a limited series (500 pieces), soon emerged. One thing led to another, and it became clear that this very special Reverso would have to be a Reverso with complications. But there was then a major problem: the current case of the Reverso could not accommodate a new complication calibre, which would be too large. It was at this precise moment that Gunter Blumlein, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the LMH Group, owner of the Manufacture, conceived and approved a crazy idea: the Reverso had to be made bigger. The Reverso Grande Taille was born, and the first model of the collection was the Reverso 60th Anniversary (read more on the Grande Taille Collection).
The idea of creating a Reverso with complications had already been mooted in the 1940s, based on the calibre used at the time for the classic models (calibre 11 U). The very first real prototype even dated back to 1938, when the Manufacture produced a model with a retrograde calendar, moon phases, day and month. After some research, this old model was found by the team, who were thus confirmed in their idea of creating a new Reverso with complications.
After about a year’s work and research, the first working prototype of the Reverso 60th Anniversary saw the light of day in 1991.
Janek Deleskiewicz, who was born in La Rochelle but moved to Paris immediately after his design studies, had his first professional experience with Roger Talon, designer of the French TGV, and then at Matra, where he met Henri-John Belmont. Belmont hired him at Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1987 – before his arrival, the company did not really have an in-house design office. Janek signed the designs for virtually all the major models of the late 1980s.
The creation of the 60th Anniversary kept him busy for several months. The task was not an easy one, because the Reverso had to remain the Reverso… the only room for manoeuvre was to increase the size of the case, modify the design of the crown, and install a transparent display back to allow the calibre to be admired. And of course: completely (re)designing the dial, which was obviously the most difficult task. For example, how could the power reserve indicator, the date and the permanent seconds be integrated without altering the DNA of the watch, while still making all of them legible? Was it wise to use Arabic numerals? And why not replace the traditional “12” with an applied “JL” logo, thereby eliminating the “Jaeger-LeCoultre” mention on the dial and saving space? Another question: where should the individual watch number appear: on the dial or on the back?
Over the next six months, Janek developed numerous drafts, all of which were extensively discussed and analysed with the rest of the team. Countless changes were made before the final version was produced.
The final objective of respecting the Reverso tradition as far as possible, while allowing for the necessary innovations, was achieved with the creation of a magnificent guilloché silver dial.
Early drawing of the Reverse 60th Anniversary
(personal collection of Janek Deleskiewicz)
Final drawing of the Reverso 60th Anniversary
(personal collection of Janek Deleskiewicz)
Reverso 60th Anniversary
Roger Guignard played a leading role in the creation of the new calibre for the Reverso 60th Anniversary. When he started to work on calculating the calibre’s new dimensions and technical characteristics – calendar mechanism, power reserve and permanent small seconds – the Manufacture had an archive of more than 200 movements developed since its creation. However, none of them could serve as a basis for this new project. A completely new movement had to be created.
For many months, like an architect designing a new house, Guignard defined the configuration of the oval mainplate and each of the components, giving rise to the new 23-jewel Calibre 824, made almost entirely of pink gold and featuring 193 components.
At the end of this study work, carried out on computer, and after numerous analyses and discussions with the Prototypes Department, the actual manufacture of the first movement began. The team still faced new challenges, in particular the assembly of the movement with the transparent back: from the outside, only the movement had to appear, in all its splendour, without any other support or joint as used for previous Reverso models.
It was thanks to the company’s know-how and the ingenuity of all its executives that the calibre 824 was finally able to equip the 500 Reverso 60th Anniversaire in 1991. It would also serve as the basis for the famous calibre 822 fitted to the other Grande Taille models from 1992 onwards.
Technical characteristics of calibre 824 :
Dimensions (mm): 17,2 x 22 x 4,14
Frequency: 18’000 oscillations per hour
Power reserve: 45 hours
Jewels : 23
Calibre 824
Year: 1991
Reference: 270.2.64 (270.240.642)
Dimensions: 26 x 42 mm
Production: 500 numbered pieces in pink gold
Creating a free account will allow you to become an Explorer member of the Club (access to our newsletter, to the wishlist feature, and possibility to submit your watches for sale). For more exclusive services, explore our 2 other tiers of membership – Connoisseur or Collector – with a larger range of benefits and special offers.
