The latest vintage inspired Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is a remake of the 1948 model, featuring a silver and blue dial with the distinctive “Fabriqué en Suisse” inscription as on the original.

Jaeger-LeCoultre hit a home run with the first Grande Reverso Ultra Thin (shown here in its Rouge variant), a remake of the 1931 Reverso with a black dial; that was recently joined by a chocolate dial version. JLC has been mining that vein ever since, with the newest addition being the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra Thin 1948. Technically the new 1948 is identical to the 1931. It shares the same steel case measuring 46.8 mm long by 27.4 mm wide, with an unadorned reverse face suitable for personalisation. Inside is the tried and tested hand-wound calibre 822, the brand’s workhorse, oval-shaped calibre. The only difference is the dial, which is taken from the 1948 model.

It has a grained silver finish with the indices and minute track in blue, along with blued steel hands. And unlike the 1931 models which only carried the “Reverso” brand on the dial, the new 1948 has the Jaeger-LeCoultre logo plus “Fabriqué en Suisse“, which means made in Switzerland.

The new Grande Reverso 1948 on the wrist of Luke Tomlinson, captain of the England polo team

The reason for this is that Jaeger-LeCoultre as a corporate entity only started in 1937. Prior to that watchmaker Edmond Jaeger collaborated with Swiss movement producer LeCoultre & Cie. – most notably with the EWC movements made for Cartier – but each remained independent. The Grande Reverso Ultra Thin 1948 will retail for 12,800 Singapore dollars, which is equivalent to US$10,200.