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The 2004 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon wasn’t the primary wristwatch to function a tourbillon with multiple axis, however the totality of its innovation was staggering.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon 1
Engineered by tourbillon savant Eric Coudray, the Gyro rocketed to GPHG recognition and collector esteem. It had just one downside: an nameless form.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 in platinum
Cue the 2008 Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2. Supercharged by JLC’s iconic reversible case, the Gyro 2 left nothing on the desk. For wrists of tectonic scale, the king of Reversos was the total bundle.
JLC’s Reverso went on a linebacker meal plan throughout the 2000s. Granted, it was a interval of elephantiasis for the business generally, however the Reverso ramped up sooner than most.
Wrist shot of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Squadra (picture courtesy Miguel Seabra)
The “massive” Reverso of the Nineteen Nineties, the grande taille, grew to become virtually quaint amid the “XGT” sized seventieth anniversary Reverso of 2002, the square-cased “Squadra” line of 2006, and that 12 months’s triple-dial Grande Complication à Triptyque.
An open view of the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Grande Complication à Triptyque
The final was so giant {that a} sliding “case lock” was carried out to maintain its dirigible-scale platinum inside case from departing the mounted place.
Greater than some other ancestor, the Gyrotourbillon 2 is the direct descendant of the Triptyque. The dimensions, mass, and sheer presence of the 2 machines really feel as epic as any two sister ships because the Titanic and Olympic cohabitated Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon 2 (picture courtesy www.bonhams.com)
Higher fortune befell the Gyrotourbillon 2, and it presents a case examine in what Jaeger-LeCoultre can accomplish with a cost-no-object growth temporary.
Platinum was employed for this pivoted case as a result of after all it was; extra was the purpose again then, and 2008 was the height earlier than the autumn. As a result of sheer weight, the Gyro 2 reprised the Triptyque’s case lock set off. Whereas a small quantity of play is perceptible, the lock retains the large watch from flying open at inopportune occasions. Spring-loaded ball bearing pin snaps emit a satisfying “snick” because the case strikes into and out of its information tracks.
Opening the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Like all Reversos, a correctly assembled Gyro 2 feels crisp, exact, and premium because it transitions between sides.
The Nineteen Eighties witnessed the re-emergence of the Reverso as a mannequin line, but it surely was clear by the early 90s that the watch’s alleged sports activities watch roots (I’m skeptical) had eroded solely. By then a real gown watch, the Reverso was reinvented as a double-sided showcase for seen actions, issues, or each.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
The Gyrotourbillon 2 tells time with it’s a easy two-hand show flanked by a separate 24-hour scale; it’s not a second time zone. That stated, the hook isn’t the time in any respect; it’s the presentation.
JLC mounts the palms on a skeletonized flying bridge beneath a sapphire dial ring. The bridge is filled with sharp interior-crevice anglage the corporate usually omits even on flagship fashions. Flanking motion plates function blindingly brilliant rhodium-plated pyramide hobnail guilloche that’s beautifully superfluous and creates an appropriate sense of event for the show-stopping tourbillon.
Titanium cages of the multi-axis tourbillon of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Suspended on a lace-like bridge, the tourbillon is a titanium building with two axial circuits. The primary is a standard one-minute rotation, however the second is a manic 18.75-second flutter that’s virtually disorienting to behold and would possibly rival Nineteen Nineties anime for epileptic seizure threat.
Even in comparison with the 2004 Gyrotourbillon, the Gyro 2 is a livid factor. Whereas the unique watch featured a 24-second inside tourbillon and a 3Hz beat fee, JLC stepped up the speed to 4Hz and accepted a decrease energy reserve to supercharge the sequel.
Multi-axis tourbillon of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
The titanium building and internet of miniscule cage frames have been a problem to brighten, however JLC seems to have achieved a adequate, if not virtuosic, mixture of media blasting and skinny bevels on these surfaces.
JLC additionally took a web page from the Greubel Forsey playbook and strategically angled the outer tourbillon in hopes of gaining a bit extra benefit in opposition to the ravages of gravity when the watch sits static at night time. All different occasions of day, the caliber 174 depends on its battery of various orientations to cancel out the impact of Higgs’ boson on timing precision.
Cylindrical hairsping contained in the multi-axis tourbillon of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
A cylindrical hairspring – thanks, John Arnold – is supplied to additional the watch’s prospects in opposition to Earth’s pull. Intriguingly, each inside and outer tourbillon cages are suspended by shock safety springs. It’s an unusual refinement on any tourbillon a lot much less one which’s twinned.
The impact of the springs could also be much less about preservation in opposition to shock than it’s about preserving the steadiness workers centered in its jewel cups. Whether or not all these chronometric issues repay is a matter of perspective.
Within the 2009 Concours Worldwide de Chronométrie, JLC tourbillon regulators took first and second locations in opposition to a battery of elite opponents. Sadly for Gyro 2 followers, it was the steel-cased $50,000 Grasp Tourbillon that received gold with the Gyro 2 taking silver.
However – and it’s a giant however – static assessments of wristwatch tourbillons embrace 4 positions out of six the place the tourbillon rotates on an axis perpendicular to the drive of gravity.
This totally doesn’t occur on the wrist, but it surely permits a fastidiously regulated single-axis tourbillon to run up the rating in opposition to multi-axis variations below lab situations. On the randomly flailing human wrist, the compound model of the tourbillon probably closes or erases the hole solely.
The Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 retains the watch’s authentic circa 1931 parlor trick, and the rotating case is put to good use. Its verso facet doesn’t embrace any time shows, however the decrease bridge of the tourbillon presents one other vantage level from which to understand the machine.
Motion facet of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Extra bottom refinements embrace an influence reserve indicator and a barrel geared up with an elaborate stopworks.
The stopworks guards in opposition to over-winding the mainspring on the excessive finish and time loss on the low finish. As a result of watchmakers perceive {that a} stopped watch is simpler to acknowledge than one shedding time, the low-energy stoppage is a failsafe of types. As a result of residual power within the stopped barrel, even the slightest winding of the crown causes the stalled motion to start out immediately.
Motion facet of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
It’s vital to make a fast observe about the usual of end on this watch. Jaeger-LeCoultre watches priced for the mainstream market primarily embrace machine-laid ornament.
Solely above the CHF 100,000 does the JLC customary of end start to rival haute horlogerie executions from different manufacturers.
On the Gyro 2, broad mirrored bevels converse to the additional time invested. The decrease bridge for the tourbillon consists of rounded and polished braces similar to Greuble Forsey and De Bethune executions.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Flanks of the sapphire dial’s underlying bridge are brushed with straight graining in a vertical orientation. The reverse facet consists of bridges with a mixture of engine turning and stripes. Ratchet wheel tooth exhibit sprucing, and that’s a measure taken on vanishingly few watches to hail from La Grande Maison.
Motion facet of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Regardless of the corporate’s close to common use of heat-blued screws on its mainstream fashions, Jaeger-LeCoultre opted to make use of solely mirror-finished examples so as to preserve the cool monotone swagger of this watch. Briefly, JLC put within the work to make sure the watch’s refinement lives as much as its engineering.
There are guitar collectors who don’t play, race automobile collectors who don’t hit the observe, and connoisseurs of gems who put on none. No watch of the Gyro 2’s dimension and worth is designed with a view to every day use. However, for a lot of collectors, a platinum brick just like the Reverso Gyrotourbillon is extra of an object d’artwork.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Judged on the premise of sheer spectacle, it delivers. It’s completely the case that such a watch might be owned, appreciated, and proven with satisfaction at a Crimson Bar meetup whereas by no means driving a wrist. Whether or not offered within the hand or on the arm, the Gyro 2 is an occasion.
For extra data, please go to www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us-en/our-maison/masters-of-complications/multi-axis-tourbillon
Fast Details: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2
Reference Code: Q2336420
Features: Hours; minutes; energy reserve indicator; 24-hour indicator
Case: Platinum; 36mm diameter; 16.5mm thick; 55.3mm lug-to-lug; 23mm between lug horns; reversible case with sliding case lock mechanism; 30 meters of water resistance
Dial: Recto dial: open wrought with hobnail motion parts, hours and minutes with sapphire scale, 24-hour dial, bi-axial tourbillon. Verso dial: energy reserve indicator, bi-axial tourbillon
Motion: Caliber 174; handbook wind; 50-hour energy reserve; 4Hz beat fee; 58 jewels; free sprung steadiness; bi-axial tourbillon with 18.75 and 60-second circuits; cylindrical hairspring; energy reserve indicator, stopworks for barrel; 24-hour indicator, Grasp 1,000 Hours examined
Strap: Rectangular scale blue alligator leather-based high with small spherical scale gray alligator leather-based lining
Clasp: White gold deployant clasp buckle with double folding motion
Limitation: Launched in 2008 in 75 items
2024 Preowned Value: $110,000-$119,000
* Tim Mosso is the media director and watch specialist at The 1916 Firm. You may try their very complete YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@the1916company.
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