Elegance and charm, simply stated.

You get out of the taxi onto the wet footpath, making your way to a set brass elongated doors. You hastily push your way thorough them, the head waiter snaps into a brisk move towards you, he can see you are in a rush. “Good evening sir, your party isn’t here yet. Would you like to be seated and have a drink while you wait?” “No thanks, I’ll wait at the bar”.
He ushers you towards a long high polished wooden bar with brass panels reflecting light. You call out for an old fashioned and look around while you wait. The restaurant is first class with all the adornments, nothing less for an important client. As the drink is placed at your hands, you slide back your sleeve to check the time. Your eyes drift, the triple gadroons play with the soft lighting and demand attention. Your eyes move to the dial work and the blued hands. Time doesn’t mean anything to you in that moment. Only the beauty and art of the Jaeger LeCoultre that is on your wrist. You flip the watch over, satisfying clicks of the carriage let you know it is secured. The movement now the star of the show. Geneve waves, anglage, gold filled engraving. This is elegance and charm, simply stated.

The Reverso has many stories told about it, how it was the first sports watch built, specifically for polo. How the Reverso was worn by famous and infamous people in history, from general Macarthur to the German dude with the little moustache that wanted it all. The story of my reverso isn’t that of grandeur like my fellow owners, but a story of pure love and respect for this great timepiece.
I first saw the reverso way back in my collecting journey. It was way out of my budget and there were so many varieties to choose from. It took me years of painstaking saving to afford one and even more to decide what Reverso was for me. Firstly, it needed to be big due to my larger wrists. A grande it is, let’s narrow it down some more. The dial layout so even and perfect, a simple time only complicationless piece. Then came the caseback, what did I want to have on it? Do I engrave something? At this stage in my collecting I had studied and taken up watchmaking as a hobby and wanted a display back so I can spend hours on end staring at the movement and its beauty.
A 976 it is. Now where to find one. I ended up finding it through a contact in buying and selling watches. He knew it was going to be a keeper for me, the “one”. So he was very accommodating. When I first saw it in the flesh it was love at first sight. I couldn’t look away. I slid it on my wrist and just couldn’t believe it. Even now when I wear it, it’s so special to me it’s like it’s not mine.
Like I’m minding it for a rich friend or something haha.

Once I got it home I noticed that it was dated dec 2010 which for me was even more special as it was my wedding month and year. It was meant to be. It hasn’t been all love and rainbows.
The case is a scratch magnet, like really bad. The other thing was that I was wearing it one night, and I felt a click, Like I was wearing a bumper automatic. I looked down and the second hand wasn’t ticking. The main spring snapped, my heart sank and I knew I was in a world of pain. I got lucky as a friend of mine who is a watchmaker was able to repair the watch with a new mainspring relatively cheap. (He owed me some favours)
So service costs are big too, when you don’t have watchmaker friends hehehe.
The reverso is also a strap monster. Apart from the standard black alligator, it goes well in all types of browns and tans as well as cognac, blue and burgundy.

I love it, it’s special to me for so many reasons and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I highly recommend one to anyone that’s thinking about it, take the plunge and take home a piece of colorectal history with a true art deco beauty.