2000s Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Calendar (Ref. 270.3.36) 18K WG

Sophisticated and rugged are two words not commonly seen together, but when describing the sport of Polo, or the players of the sport, no two words are better suited. However, this combination didn't bode well for the polo player's watches, which saw constant abuse due to most watches featuring an exposed crystal. So after a conversation with a Polo player who just broke their crystal while playing a match in India, Swiss businessman César de Trey brought the idea of a watch that could survive the harsh conditions of a Polo match to Jacques-David LeCoultre, who was the owner of JLC. Jacques-David took this concept to his head designer at the time, René-Alfred Chauvot, who quickly designed and patented the sophisticated and rugged Reverso design.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso on its own is a stunning dress piece, however, its ability to flip over on its case to protect its finer watchmaking components was nothing short of revolutionary at the time of its conception. Since 1931, JLC has introduced numerous variants of this iconic timepiece including, GMTs, tourbillions, dual face variants, moon phases, and calendars like the example presented here.