Yves Saint Laurent Reverso

We love vintage watches for plenty of reasons, but the stories are usually what get us. And this one has a particularly good one. By the 1970s, Yves Saint Laurent had already changed the way people dressed. Le Smoking, safari jackets, Mondrian dresses, and a new kind of gender-fluid glamour had established the designer as one of fashion’s great modernists. Apparently, the wrist wasn’t going to escape his attention either.

This extraordinary 18K gold wristwatch takes the basic premise of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s famous Reverso — a rectangular watch with a case that can turn over within its frame — and filters it through a distinctly Saint Laurent lens. Rather than simply imitate the Art Deco original, YSL turned the architecture into something softer, bolder, and considerably more fashion-minded.

The central case is framed by wonderfully exaggerated horizontal scrolls at the top and bottom, giving the watch an almost architectural quality. Because the rotating section forms the widest point of the composition, the whole thing feels deliberately substantial through its center before narrowing dramatically into the strap. It’s an unusual proportion, but an extremely successful one.

The dial is equally clever. Only the cardinal Arabic numerals — 3, 6, 9, and 12 — interrupt an otherwise beautifully spare surface, while a striped railroad-style minute track sits unexpectedly inside the dial rather than around its perimeter. Slender black hands complete the composition. There’s something wonderfully Saint Laurent about the tension between restraint and embellishment: just when you think the design is completely minimal, another detail appears.

Fashion watches are often treated as something separate from “serious” watch collecting. This one makes a persuasive argument against that distinction. It’s beautifully made, wonderfully strange, unmistakably of its era, and connected to one of the most important names in 20th-century design.

In 18K gold and with enough personality to make most rectangular dress watches look positively conventional, this Yves Saint Laurent is ready for its next fashionable custodian.

Founded in Paris in 1961 by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent became one of the defining fashion houses of the 20th century, bringing a new modernity to everything from tailoring and eveningwear to accessories. Saint Laurent’s genius was his ability to borrow from established codes — menswear, military dress, art, exoticism — and transform them into something unmistakably his own.

That approach occasionally extended to the wrist. Vintage Yves Saint Laurent watches occupy a fascinating corner of the house’s history, often treating the watch less as a piece of conventional horology than as another element of personal style. Designs could be elegant, architectural, playful, and decidedly unconventional, incorporating unusual case shapes and jewelry-like details. Today, these relatively obscure pieces offer collectors another way into the extraordinarily broad design vocabulary of Saint Laurent — and proof that good fashion design doesn’t necessarily stop at the cuff.

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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.