The Reverso As Living Canvas
From its genesis in 1931, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso has transcended its utilitarian polo heritage, morphing over decades into an exemplar of artistic expression in horology. Its famed swivelling case, originally devised as a shield for the dial during fierce polo matches, now stands revered as a miniature stage for enamel painting, engraving, and the flourishing of Métiers Rares techniques. It is on this polished expanse that Jaeger-LeCoultre’s artisans have spun a visual tribute to the 2026 Lunar New Year, capturing not only the dynamic elegance of the horse but also the diverse triumphs of East and West in artistic craft.
A Dialogue of Colour and Craft
Each Reverso Tribute Enamel model welcomes the observer with dial surfaces that possess both mystery and vitality. The “Horse” edition revels in a breathtaking, deep black Grand Feu enamel, its glossiness the result of five or six meticulous enamel layers, each fired and cooled in search of flawless opacity. The effect is hypnotic, drawing the gaze inward to its chevroned minute track, faceted hour markers, and gently tapering Dauphine hands. This inky canvas both pays homage to the understated roots of the Reverso and amplifies the grandeur of the horse engraved on the reverse.
The Xu Beihong models, in contrast, delight with guilloché patterns veiled beneath layers of coloured Grand Feu enamel — sunray green for “The Running Horse”, barley-seed blue for “Two Horses”, and a vibrant herringbone orange for “The Standing Horse”. Each shade not only references Xu Beihong’s traditional landscapes but also forms a delicate chromatic bridge to Chinese artistic symbolism.
Calibre 822 and Horological Virtuosity
Beneath their artistic façades, all these watches are invigorated by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822, a manually wound movement complete with a 42-hour power reserve. This calibre, entirely conceived and assembled by hand in the Vallée de Joux’s spiritual cradle of horology, measures just 2.94 mm in thickness. Distinct for its compact, tonneau-shaped architecture, the Calibre 822 is designed for elongated Reverso cases and features polished and brushed finishes on bridges and plates. The edges are beautifully chamfered by hand, and each component exhibits circular graining or Côtes de Genève as appropriate, speaking to the Manufacture’s flawless mastery. Though the movement remains hidden behind the solid caseback, its very presence suffuses each timepiece with authenticity and quiet confidence. The slender hands glide across the dial, marking hours and minutes in their unhurried, silent ballet, a mechanical heartbeat resonating with nearly two centuries of accumulated expertise.
The Cases and Artistic Métiers: A Symphony of Craft
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso is perhaps unrivalled as a medium for artistic métiers d’art, and these horological tributes offer compelling illustration. On the pink gold Tribute Enamel Horse, the caseback blossoms into a tableau of dynamic equine beauty, the horse emerging, almost corporeal, from golden cloud relief. The engraver, applying a technique of modelled engraving, sculpts volume and vitality using ten differently sized chisels, all while avoiding the slightest imperfection on a Grand Feu enamel field already subject to the vagaries of multiple firings. Sand-blasted textures suggest wind and movement; details highlighted with rhodium black evoke tangibility and grace, requiring some eighty hours of engraving, one slip would mean starting anew.
The white gold Xu Beihong series presents a trio of poetic odes to the horse, each named for its miniature enamel reproduction inspired by the masterful Chinese painter. Here, the task is staggering: to transpose a heroic ink-and-wash, sometimes metres across, into a painted enamel of just two square centimetres. Xu’s wild brushwork – be it the noble stand of “The Standing Horse”, the synchronised gallop of “Two Horses”, or the solitary dynamism of “The Running Horse” – is reinterpreted by the enamellist’s perfect touch, each miniature requiring eighty hours or more. Opposite, the glossy dials shimmer above intricate guilloché patterns, the motifs meticulously cut before enamel is applied, lending visual depth and vibrancy.
Every detail, from the softly polished facets of the Art Deco case to the carefully variant surface finishes, illustrates Jaeger-LeCoultre‘s role as the last great bastion where such crafts all converge. It is not simply about mastery, but the curation and ongoing revitalisation of age-old decorative techniques, ensuring their resonance long after fashion has moved on.
Equine Poetics on the Wrist
These Reverso watches serve as veritable declarations of what the intersection between creative vision and horological science can truly achieve. The Year of the Horse unfolds on pink and white gold stages: one, a celebration of the horse as a totem of Chinese culture, animated in bas-relief against immaculate Grand Feu black; the others, a painterly tribute to Xu Beihong’s galloping steeds, their power and poetry distilled into enamel brilliance. Each piece is an artisanal summit in ultra-limited form, ten examples per model, promising a rare and profound union of art, culture, and mechanical perfection. This is not mere watchmaking, but wearable poetry: the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso case, endlessly turning, continues to offer its surface to the imagination, capturing time through the eternal, elemental spirit of the horse.
