Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso 1935

Some vintage watches come with boxes and papers. Occasionally, one comes with a life story.

This extraordinary LeCoultre Reverso, dating to circa 1935, comes from the first few years of one of the most important wristwatch designs of the 20th century. The Reverso had been patented only in 1931, famously conceived as a solution for British officers in India who needed a watch capable of surviving the rigors of polo. Its ingenious answer was a rectangular case that could slide from its cradle, rotate, and turn its metal back outward to protect the crystal. What began as a piece of sporting ingenuity became an Art Deco icon.

This example captures the design in beautifully pure early form. Its rectangular case features the signature horizontal gadroons above and below the dial, while the wonderfully aged silvered dial has developed a warm patina across more than 90 years. Applied baton indexes, slender hands, a geometric minute track, and a distinctive rectangular small-seconds display at 6 o’clock create a design that feels almost architectural. The dial is signed simply LeCoultre, appropriate for a watch produced before the Jaeger and LeCoultre names were formally united as Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1937.

But flip this Reverso over, and the story becomes personal. The reverse is engraved with the initials “AK,” and unusually, we know something about the person behind them.

Accompanying the watch are its original British bill of sale from the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company, a period photograph of the original owner, and a written family provenance tracing the watch back to Archibald Kelso. According to the accompanying history, the watch was a wedding gift from Lilian Simpson, his future wife. Simpson had worked as a ladies’ companion to Lady Bluckstein of the J. Lyons & Co. family. At the same time, Kelso was a Glasgow master confectioner and, reportedly, a baking tutor or supplier to Lyons. Suddenly those two engraved letters mean considerably more.

The best vintage watches are objects that somehow survive after the people who originally owned them are gone. With an early Reverso, that history is especially poignant: the blank reverse of the case was conceived from the beginning as a place for initials, inscriptions, and personal expression. Here, the initials are still present, and remarkably, so is the story behind them.

Few watchmaking concerns are as storied as Jaeger-LeCoultre. Though the maison is not technically a member of the “Holy Trinity” of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin, one could easily make the argument that it should be: After all, it was JLC that supplied movements to Patek from the beginning of the 20th century through the early 30s.

Founded in 1833 by Antoine LeCoutlre in Le Sentier, Switzerland, the firm became the Jaeger-LeCoultre we know today when it merged with Parisian watchmaker Edmond Jaeger’s business in 1937. The two horological concerns collaborated on numerous projects before cementing their partnership, the most important of which was no doubt the Reverso. A sport watch with a reversible case, this ingenious timepiece was designed to offer protection to the watch dial — when engaged in sport or otherwise dangerous activity, the wearer would simply flip the case over, exposing its back to the world, rather than the vulnerable crystal.

But the Reverso is far from the only significant timepiece brought to market by JLC: The firm also produced the world’s thinnest pocket watch in 1907, powered by the Caliber 145. In 1929, the maison released the Caliber 101, still today the smallest mechanical movement. (Queen Elizabeth II wore a Caliber 101-equipped wristwatch to her coronation in 1953.) And perhaps no other watchmaker is world-renowned for their production of a clock in the way that JLC is famous for the Atmos. Invented by Jean-Léon Reutter, it’s powered by miniscule changes in atmospheric pressure — Edmon Jaeger acquired the patent and licensed it beginning in 1936. The Atmos is still produced in numerous forms today, and remains the Swiss government’s foremost diplomatic gift.

From classic, near-centuries old designs like the Reverso and the Atmos to modern über-complications such as the brilliant Master Gyrotourbillon, Jaeger-LeCoultre remains on the cutting edge of horological technology nearly two centuries after its founding.

Our Pledge

Analog:Shift stands behind the authenticity of our products in perpetuity.

Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a two-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.