Jaeger-LeCoultre Unique Reverso personalized by ZEP, Famous creator of “Titeuf”
Swiss luxury watch manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre presents a unique Reverso personalized by Zep (Philippe Chappuis), the famous Francophone Swiss cartoonist who created the Titeuf comic series.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Reverso, an iconic model of the Grande Maison in Le Sentier, Switzerland, Zep personalized a dial in enamel of a Reverso à eclipses in pink gold. This artistic execution will be issued as a unique piece. Zep, a renowned Swiss artist, drew his inspiration from a visit to the Manufacture last April. Enamelling, along with engraving, is one of the rare crafts developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Today the enameling atelier located on the Manufacture’s site comprises three persons. They perform a wide variety of personalization offers in enamel on the Reverso’s case-back and also on the dials. These artists execute unique pieces using skills that combine tradition with the spirit on invention, developing new techniques that are revealed each year in the new collections.
A small wheel above the crown draws aside the two sides of the dial to reveal a drawing especially made by Zep: Titeuf slipping through a clockwork mechanism, a nod to Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. This image was reproduced in miniature by an enamel craftsman of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture.
Over 80 hours of intense concentration and a number of kiln firings were necessary to apply and fix the colours laid on with minuscule brushes. Encased in 18-carat pink gold, this unique watch houses the Jaeger-LeCoultre 849 Calibre, with a total thickness not exceeding 1.82 mm.
The unique Reverso customized by Zep in enamel and pink gold will be auctioned by the Artcurial auction house on November 29, 2011 in Paris for the benefit of “Monaco Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy”.
A long time ago, back in 1931, in a dusty vortex and to the accompaniment of horses’ hooves hammering, an idea was born: a watch with a dial that could protect itself from shocks, all the while offering a personalized engraved case-back. Eighty years later, the Reverso, the one and only truly polo watch in the world, has progressed from watchmaking icon to cult status.
