Jaeger-LeCoultre’s New Releases for Watches and Wonders 2025

Words by Harrods Writers

“One comes at once upon a Cubist dream city,” wrote a visitor of the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in 1925, “or the projection of a possible city on Mars”. The Paris exhibition, celebrating the best of modern design, had one simple rule: imitation of the past was banned. The result, displayed across numerous international pavilions, was a style entirely new. Art Deco. Defined by social upheaval, youthful optimism and pure, streamlined glamour, it revolutionised the look of the 1920s and ’30s, from fashion to furniture to Hollywood film. “The first impression,” that critic noted, “was startling”.

The same can be said for Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso. Introduced in 1931, the timepiece – named for its captivating reversible dial – is a masterpiece of Art Deco design, as lauded by aesthetes as furniture by Jean-Michel Frank or René Lalique glassware. In 2025, Jaeger-LeCoultre pays homage to the Paris exhibition’s centenary with an outstanding series of Reverso novelties, unveiled this month at Watches and Wonders Geneva. “It was a time when the extraordinary was celebrated,” remarks La Grande Maison, with its Reverso: “embodying the creativity and defiance of an era that reshaped the future”.

Further delights await with the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater, and it’s here that horological truffle hunters truly strike gold. With this spectacular unveiling from its Métiers Rares™ atelier, Jaeger-LeCoultre debuts Calibre 953 – a new in-house movement incorporating seven of its 430+ patents, promising 48-hour power reserve (virtually unheard of from a minute repeater), and integrating noteworthy steps to enhance the complication’s timbre from trébuchet hammers to crystal gongs. Amid the intricacy of the repeater, these nuances are gratifyingly displayed through the open-worked reverse dial, which draws the eye inward with ingenious faceted indexes cantilevered from a chemin de fer minutes track. Dues must also be paid to its deliciously dramatic front dial, resulting from four hours of hand-guilloché work and eight hours of meticulous grand feu enamelling. Naturally, the Reverso Tribute Minute Repeater will be limited to 30 pieces only.

For every mechanical milestone, Jaeger-LeCoultre matches its prowess in artistry. As evidence, look no further than the latest Reverso Tribute Nonantieme ‘Enamel’ – continuing a story that began in 2021 to celebrate the Reverso’s historic 90th anniversary.

Awe-inspiring details are bountiful in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest Reverso novelties. Doing justice to each piece individually would defy any reasonable wordcount – and, in places, words themselves. One such instance that would render all speechless were it not for the absolute necessity of discussion, is the spellbinding Shahnameh series. Singularly beautiful, this quartet of 10 pieces each is decorated by hand with elaborate Persian miniatures, reproducing illustrations from the collection’s namesake poem. These Lilliputian masterpieces of the Métiers Rares™ are the sum of enamel painting, paillonnage (the introduction of 24-karat gold leaf), grand feu enamel and guillochage, completed over the course of 100 hours per timepiece – incidentally, about the duration you’ll need to appreciate their intricacy.

To stand as a horological icon with all the gravitas and grandeur of Jaeger-LeCoultre must be both a blessing and a curse. Every year, the weight of expectation that surrounds this storied manufacture, built upon foundations spanning the best part of two centuries, is second to none. Yet, as the 2025 novelties attest, La Grande Maison steadfastly rises to the challenge – and then some. Viewing each watch as a canvas for artistry and innovation, Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to offer earth-shattering timepieces that are also true works of art.