Scrabble the Seconds: The Brains Behind Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso

Every year at Watches and Wonders, Jaeger-LeCoultre delights us with technologically advanced calibres and haute horology decorations.

However, before the 2025 edition of the fair begins, we thought we’d take a look back at the Reverso and the technical evolution of the brand’s most important complication, the flippable case.

In 1931, businessman César de Trey approached his friend Jacques-David LeCoultre to produce a watch with a cover that would protect the face while playing polo.

To accomplish this, they engaged French industrial designer René-Alfred Chauvot, who came up with a plan for a rectilinear case, which, in the words of patent application No. 712.868, filed at the French Ministry of Trade and Industry on March 4, 1931, “can be slid in its support and completely turned over.”
 

The first Reverso was made up of two parts. The first part was a capsule that housed the movement and a dial under a crystal. The capsule was then set into the second part, a cradle with parallel grooves and a locking mechanism with spring-loaded pins that hold the capsule in place, allowing it to swivel 180 degrees on a hinge.

The result was a case with sleek, clean lines that allowed the wearer to “reverse” the watch on demand, bringing the solid back to face forward, thus protecting the crystal from damage caused by direct hits from polo mallets or balls and proving that sports watches don’t have to be chunky to be robust.

After World War II, round watches became the dominant silhouette. So much so that Jaeger-LeCoultre stopped manufacturing the rectangular watch in 1948. But what goes around comes around, and in 1972, a man named Giorgio Corvo, then Jaeger-LeCoultre’s agent for Italy, asked the brand to bring the Reverso back.

So, even though the flippable Reverso case was tricky to manufacture, The Maison accepted the challenge and retrofitted 200 unused old stock cases that could hold the oval-shaped JLC calibre 840.
 

These “Corvo Reverso” also got a facelift: Its new dial design, signed “Jaeger-LeCoultre,” came in either white or grey and featured Roman numerals. Only 100 were made of each color.

Buyers flipped (yikes, sorry about that) for the resurrected Reverso, and JLC brought it back to the permanent lineup – with a few changes.

First, the Maison had to manufacture a brand-new case that was more complex than the original and waterproof. The brand also played with the Reverso’s scale with the larger “Grande Taille” Reverso case, introduced in 1991.
 

Measuring 42.2mm tall by 26.1mm wide, this case allowed the brand to start introducing innovations such as more functions like a calendar, a second time zone, and a power reserve. This model was produced until the 2016 refresh of the Reverso range.

Since then, the Reverso family has expanded into many arenas, with its elegant design embraced by fans of all genders. So, besides being an excellent canvas for intricate enamel work, the Reverso has also delved into grand complications such as gyrotourbillons and minute repeaters.