Friday, August 3, 2018

Two For One - The JLC Reverso Grande GMT

Way back in 1931 when Manufacture Jaeger LeCoultre first developed the Reverso, I am sure they had not realised the full potential of the range.

The Reverso was then developed for the officers of the British Army who played polo and had wanted a timepiece that could withstand the rigours of polo and yet be kept safe. The glass front was vulnerable to breaking when hit. JLC created a reversible timepiece - watch on the front side and a solid case back to protect the timepiece from flying balls and the likes. And the rest they say, is history.

Fast forward to more recent times, JLC has gone on to develop more iconic Reverso iterations and I have had the luck to own the Reverso Grande GMT Ultra Thin Bleu Edition. Here, I feature another Reverso with the GMT complication - the Reverso Grande GMT. My favourite of all must be the JLC Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2. What a timepiece! But I digress... I leave that for another time.

The normal Reverso are slightly smaller and perhaps more suitable for ladies. The Reverso Grande IMHO is just the right size for men. And with the right complication, is great value especially in steel case.

The case is sized at 46x29mm and fits well for a small wrist like mine.

The timepiece presents dual faces - the front is typically local time and the reverse features a second time zone along with a 24-hour indication as well as the power reserve indicator.

The front panel displays the local time, has a Day/Night indicator at the 2 O'Clock position, a small seconds dial between 4 and 5 as well as a large date at 7. Odd as it may seem, the two pushers on the side of the case actually is for the reverse face.

The reverse side displays more information - firstly, the second time zone and to adjust the time to the overseas time, the pushers on the case are used. The top pusher advances the hour hand while the lower pusher moves the hour hand backwards.

At the 1 O'Clock position is the Power Reserve indicator showing the 8 days of power reserve for this manual winding timepiece. The sub-dial at 5 O'Clock displays the 24-hours indication with the sub-dial at 7 O'Clock showing the deviation from GMT time.

For the owners, the Reverso Grande GMT represents the travellers timepiece - one keeping the local time and on the other face the home time. The "front" face keeps the home time...

And the reverse the local time wherever you may be. What's interesting is the ability to also track the time with reference to the GMT difference - that is the indicator on the reverse side at the 7 o'clock position.

My take on JLC is that they make honest timepieces. They have the largest number of in-house calibres to their credit and in the earlier years were supplying movements to other brands like Rolex, Panerai, IWC and the likes.

Manufacturer JLC continues to churn out in-house calibres and refine their collection. For any collectors who want to start off with an in-house calibre, I strongly suggest the brand. not only do they have in-house movements, they also have a wide enough range from casual to dress to sports to haute-horology. And they are great value for money too.

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