Iconic Art Deco meets the red sole of sexiness
It’s an announcement that would impress Louboutin believers from David Lynch to Danielle Steele: Jaeger-LeCoultre is collaborating with Christian Louboutin and is also offering bespoke Reverso watches in storied ateliers — and they’re all part of the watch brand’s philosophy of evoking all kinds of emotions in men and women.
That’s how Maxence Kinget, Jaeger-LeCoultre managing director for South East Asia & Australia, describes his brand. It’s how you connect with an object right from the start, he points out. There’s something special right away.
Kinget explains, “It’s a special year for us at Jaeger-LeCoultre since we are celebrating the 85th anniversary of the Reverso watch. There are very few icons in the watchmaking world, and the Reverso is definitely an iconic watch.”
To mark this milestone, the brand saw fit to offer a new vision of the Reverso — in several forms.
“For the first one, we wanted to have something classical… what a real icon is,” he says. The Reverso Classic is a sort of homage to the first Reverso line, which was first made in 1931. Polo players wore their watches during matches and would often break the watch glass in the process. The response was a reversible watch — to protect it during the grueling thrusts and tussles on the polo field. The Reverso Classic, Kinget informs, now comes in small, medium and large.
“The second is Reverso One,” says Kinget. “This is the watch to seduce our lady clientele, our feminine audience. It’s very specific in terms of design. We’ve narrowed the shape. It’s now more rectangular, a bit longer.”
There is also the aforementioned partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre and the star shoe designer, which stemmed from the connection between Christian Louboutin and JLC CEO Daniel Riedo. Thus, within the Atelier Reverso collection there is a Louboutin Reverso capsule. For the fairer gender, it would be a dream team-up: iconic Art Deco meets the red sole of sexiness.
In his press statement, Louboutin shares, “I understood that the Reverso’s iconic Art Deco lines and very specific format could be customized and changed, but never improved. The exciting part is not about enhancing the Reverso, but instead offering a different perception of it through inventive suggestions expressed on the space available for decoration and on the strap. I have always loved the shape of the watch, and would never have agreed to this project if I had not been deeply convinced that I loved the original design of this object.”
Kinget smiles when asked if each Reverso watch will incorporate the signature red bottoms of Louboutin shoes. Yeah, that patented pantone (18-1663 TPX). “Not every piece is just red. The nude color is also very well known. But you will recognize the look of the shoes with the dial and strap of the watches. There are seven to eight different dials and textures to choose from.”
Since Jaeger-LeCoultre is heavy on the concept of creation (what with its own manufacture arm and everything), the brand allows the JLC faithful to personalize their watches. Bespoke Reverso, anyone?
“Uniqueness is very important. There are preset offers in our boutiques. The second option is, if you are even more precise in your taste, and you want something very bespoke. We will do it exactly as you want it. And it will take an average of eight weeks.”
The Atelier Reverso thus gives a gentleman or a lady the chance to interpret the Reverso in (his or her own) way in terms of enameling, engraving, lacquering of initials, gem-setting, even customization. There’s even an iPad app that allows a person to select the dial, strap, material, size that he or she wants. Kinget says they want a Reverso watch to mirror the moment each wearer is living.
It’s your own creation, concludes Kinget. “It allows you to play around with the different options. We’ve made the icon unique.”
Imagine, a watch that throbs with your own story.
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This bespoke service by Atelier Reverso is offered at the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique in Greenbelt 5.
