The New Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds In Pink Gold And Blue Makes My Head Spin
The new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds defines watch charisma. The proportions, material, and colors work wonders — and not just for me. Everyone in the Fratello office wanted to get their hands on this particular Reverso. In the introduction article, I expressed how I couldn’t wait to try on this watch. It didn’t take long for it to arrive, and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, it made my head spin.
When I wrote about a quartet of new Reverso Tribute references, the pink gold Q3982590 had the most visual impact. You might know about the pink gold Reverso Classic Duoface Small Seconds (Q3842520); basically, this is the same watch but with different dial designs. The Tribute does away with the Arabic numerals of the Classic, for instance, and a guilloché pattern is also missing from the Tribute model. The Classic really looks like a classic, while the blue Tribute manages to catch both a traditional and a contemporary spirit. The powerful dauphine hands of the Tribute also have a much stronger visual impact than the thin sword hands of the Classic.
The charismatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds
The new Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds in warm, shiny, polished pink gold is quite the looker. I almost had to fight to get my hands on the watch and start my hands-on test session with it. I can’t blame my fellow Fratello teammates because it is a charismatic watch. Thankfully, it doesn’t lose any of its appeal once on the wrist. The glossy, inky blue lacquer dial on the “recto” dial displaying the home time is so inviting that you can’t resist taking a deep plunge into it.
Since this is a Duoface, it also has a second (“verso”) dial, which is less exuberant but still incredibly stylish and sophisticated. It shows ridged pink gold indexes applied to a silver background, a recessed center, and a sophisticated 24-hour (night-day) display. The blue face gets you all excited, but with a spin of the case, the silver face will calm you down again, making this such a dynamic watch.
A tad on the large side
On my 18cm wrist, the 47mm length, 28.3mm diameter, and 9.6mm thickness of the case are a tad on the large side, but I think I can get used to the dimensions. I didn’t find the size problematic during the test period. But a rectangular watch indeed feels very different than a round one. It’s almost like the wrist has a certain memory and kind of shies away from an opposite shape. You can “tame” the wrist with a little training, but you also have to train your brain. That’s because most watch-loving brains expect to process a round watch instead of a rectangular one when the wearer’s eyes glance at the wrist. Again, practice makes perfect.
Since this is a Duoface, you can’t look inside the watch, but if you’re wondering, it houses the shaped, manually wound caliber 854A/2. The same 19-jewel, 3Hz in-house movement powers most Duoface models. A small slider set into the top case band controls the additional time zone and a 24-hour indicator, but the slider remains invisible until you release the case from the cradle.
Throwback Reverso
The Reverso Tribute Duoface is a throwback to the first Reverso model from 1931. It features emblematic codes, such as railroad minute tracks, applied hour markers, and sword-shaped or dauphine hands, but in an updated colorway and executed at a level perhaps not quite possible in the 1930s. The watch feels incredibly tight, for starters. The way the case swivels and clicks back into place is fluent and solid. The tolerances Jaeger-LeCoultre uses are tight.
And then there’s the dial. Since a 2024 Reverso comes to life in an emotional universe rather than a practical one, it also spends more time in the hands of various artisanal experts before leaving Le Sentier’s manufacture. The deep blue dial with its radiant sunray finishing, for instance, is the result of a complex and lengthy lacquering process involving 50 production stages and 20 coats of lacquer.
Speaking of modern touches, the watch comes with quickly interchangeable straps — a blue calfskin strap and a dual-material strap in the same color. The best news is that there’s not a folding clasp in sight. A pink gold pin buckle keeps things elegant, simple, and historically correct — please remember that the Reverso was originally a sports watch.
The Reverso gets me spinning and singing
With its mesmerizing blue dial and luxurious pink gold case, this Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Small Seconds has me singing the 1965 Dave Berry hit song out loud; this radiant Reverso truly has “got a strange effect on me, and I like it.” I like it a lot. What I like way less (but this is purely based on my 2024 budget cap) is the retail price of €27,900 / US$25,500.
Regarding the prices of new JLC releases, a lot can be said in and has been said in the comments below various Fratello articles. In a relatively short time, the price curve of the brand has seen a steep upward motion. I still have trouble matching the current prices to the corresponding watches. In case you feel the same or have a different view, please let me know in the comment section below.
