Up Close with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 1931 Seconde Centrale (with Original Photos & Price)

Introduced at SIHH 2015, the white gold Grande Reverso 1931 Seconde Centrale is the first vintage-style Reverso 1931 with a self-winding movement, the calibre 966A.

First unveiled four years ago, the Grande Reverso 1931 is one of Jaeger-LeCoultre‘s most successful products, combining the classic swivelling case with dials modelled on vintage Reverso models, including the Rouge and tropical dial Chocolate. The latest addition to the 1931 line-up is the Grande Reverso 1931 Seconde Centrale, the first model with an automatic movemen.

While the other Reverso 1931 watches are manually-wound, the Seconde Centrale is powered by the self-winding calibre 966A. A smallish movement with a 38 hour power reserve, its size limited by the fact that it’s a round movement mounted in a square holder to fit the rectangular case. In any case the movement is hidden under the plain white gold case back that is ready for personalisation.

More unusual is the centre seconds, a rare feature for a Reverso. It’s modelled on a vintage Reverso from the 1930s with a similar dial, with long baton indices for the hours and a railway minute track with five minute markings.

The hour markers are poudré, or powdered, meaning they are created using paint containing gold powder, giving the markers a granular finish with a bit of sparkle. Because the golden tone of the powdered markers also approximates the aged radium on vintage watches, poudré markings are popular on vintage-inspired watches like the Tiffany & Co. CT60.

Measuring 46.8mm long and 27.4mm wide, the Seconde Centrale is identical in size to its hand-wound cousins, except that the case is slightly thicker at 9.2mm because of the extra height of the automatic movement (the hand-wound models are 7.2mm high). Its case is made of white gold, making it significantly pricier than the steel equivalents.

Available only in JLC boutiques, the Grande Reverso 1931 Seconde Centrale costs US$20,100 or S$28,600.

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MB&F Introduces the Melchior Only Watch, a One of a Kind Robot Clock for Charity

Phillips has just announced the Melchior Only Watch, a unique edition of MB&F's robot clock with red shoulder plates, for the Only Watch charity auction in November 2015.

Joining fellow luminaries of independent watchmaking like F.P. Journe, Voutilainen and De Bethune, MB&F has created a one of a kind variant of the Melchior clock for Only Watch 2015. It’s distinguished by its red should plates (the regular edition is in black or silver), made of anodised aluminium and modelled on the colours of the flag of Monaco, where Only Watch takes place.

Conceived by MB&F and Swiss-based Chinese designer Xin Wang, Melchior is made by L’Epée 1839, a Swiss clockmaker better known for its old fashioned carriage clocks and also the maker of the MB&F Starfleet Machine clock. The time is indicated via two discs on its chest, jumping hours on the left and sweep minutes on the right, while the retrograde seconds are the eyes of the robot.

Melchior is made of palladium-plated brass, with the gun-shaped left forearm actually a removable key to wind the movement, which has a 40 day power reserve. A glass dome on its head reveals the balance and escapement of the movement.

Originally limited to 99 pieces, Melchior makes its curtain call with the Only Watch edition, the 100th and last clock made. It will be sold alongside 42 other unique timepieces on November 7, 2015 in Geneva, with proceeds going to fund research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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