Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023 on-site report [Jaeger-LeCoultre edition] Although the number is small, there are plenty of masterpieces that will impress and satisfy even the most discerning watch enthusiasts.

The one-of-a-kind Swiss watch fair, Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023, will be held for the first time in its full form over seven days from March 27 to April 2, 2023. webChronos has already launched a special page for new watches titled "New Watches for 2023."

I'll leave the comprehensive introduction of new products to you, and instead introduce some of the models I'm most interested in and recommend, along with photos of the booths. This time, I'll be focusing on the first of these and Jaeger-LeCoultre. I've selected models that are particularly symbolic of the brand. Come and take a look!

The latest version of the Reverso chronograph is finally here!

　This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre, the leading watch manufacturer in the Vallée de Joux, announced new releases focusing on the Reverso, the maison's most iconic model with its rectangular reversible case, first launched in 1931. Both the Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179 and the Reverso Tribute Duo Tourbillon, both high-end collections that combine the finest craftsmanship with mechanical mechanisms and feature a gyrotourbillon, are excellent. However, my personal favorite is the Reverso Tribute Chronograph.

　Why is it our top pick? The inspiration for this model lies in the background to its development: a double-faced chronograph model with a retrograde 30-minute chronograph counter, released in 1996 in a limited run of 500 pieces. Equipped with the Reverso's first chronograph movement, the Caliber 829, this model is part of the Reverso Complications series, which was launched in 1991 and strongly demonstrated the greatness of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Maison. It is a legendary masterpiece that remains popular among watch enthusiasts to this day.

　It is no exaggeration to say that this series reclaimed Jaeger-LeCoultre's rightful place in the watch industry as a "great manufacture." I visited the Jaeger-LeCoultre headquarters one winter in the late 1990s. The person who drove me to Geneva in his beloved Cherokee was Jean-Marc Keller, the vice president in charge of sales who, together with then-president Henri-Jen Belmont, turned the company around. "In the 1980s, we had so little credibility that even hotels demanded cash payments, but this series instantly elevated our reputation. We're now able to pay on credit," he told me with a cheerful tone over dinner.

　Some people may remember that in 2001, the Reverso Grand Sport Chronograph was released, featuring a simplified version of this movement, the Caliber 859, housed in a slightly rounded, squared-off Grand Sport case. Unfortunately, it was not popular in Japan, and is rarely seen. However, it was produced outside of Japan until the 2010s and enjoyed great popularity.

　The new Reverso Tribute Chronograph is a new regular model that combines the 1996 Reverso Chronograph in a modern size with the classic Tribute style, and features a duoface display with hour and minute hands on both the front and back of the case, realized with the newly developed Caliber 860 movement. The blue sunray-finished front dial is extremely simple. The chronograph buttons are understated, and if you look at it from this side alone, it doesn't look like a chronograph, adding to its understated elegance.

　Furthermore, the price of a stainless steel model in the low 300 million yen range is understandable when you consider the history and evolution of the mechanism that led to the creation of this model. Thanks to the efforts of watch brands and the evolution of manufacturing technology, chronographs are now recognized as "the next most complicated watch after a regular watch." However, in reality, chronographs are high-level complicated watches, on a par with perpetual calendars and tourbillons.

　Naohiro Hamaguchi, head of the technical department at Jaeger-LeCoultre, personally explained the new model at the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth, and he lamented, "The chronograph is actually a very difficult complication," which is no surprise.

　Moreover, some argue that the Caliber 829 mounted on the prototype "Reverso Chronograph" from 1996 was the first groundbreaking chronograph movement designed from scratch after the quartz crisis, preceding the "Datograph" released in 1999 by A. Lange & Söhne, also part of the Richemont Group. This was stated in an article titled "The Collector's Corner" in the watch web magazine "MONOCHROME" published on October 7, 2022 (https://monochrome-watches.com/This was stated in an interview with Matthieu Sauret, Jaeger-LeCoultre's Product & Heritage Director, and Philippe Vandel, the company's movement designer, in the magazine.

　In other words, the Caliber 860 installed in the new Reverso Tribute Chronograph is a dramatic evolution of this commemorative movement, even more so than it was 27 years ago. With that in mind, I'm sure readers of webChronos will understand just how amazing this new model is.