INTRODUCING: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 (Quadriptyque)

Zach Blass

With nearly 40 brands presenting novelties this Watches & Wonders, it can be quite the challenge to present a novelty that stands out amongst the crowd. After speaking with various members of the press, and #watchfam on instagram and clubhouse, it has become abundantly clear that the horological champion of the fair was Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The history of Jaeger-LeCoultre is rooted in the excellence of movement manufacture, with each of the so called “holy trinity” brands (Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin) leveraging their ebauches – some even to this day. The original Nautilus and original Royal Oak Jumbo (and present day Jumbo) utilised the JLC caliber 920 ebauche – it is the only ebauche to ever be used by Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin. So its clear JLC has longstanding horological muscle, and this Watches & Wonders they once again proved their manufacturing mettle. The new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 (Quadriptyque) – a limited edition of 10 pieces is the first watch ever to have four dials, and is the most complicated Reverso ever made.

The watch packs an astounding eleven complications into a white gold case 31mm in diameter, 15.15mm thick, and 51.2mm lug-to-lug across the wrist. While thicker than your average Reverso, this is very forgivable considering the level of complication and the number of dials within the watch. It is still very much the classic Reverso form, with a polished squared case and sloped lugs that help conform the watch around your wrist. There is elegant channelling, also in line with classic Reverso design, that frames the top and bottom of the dial – creating separation between the dial and the break into the lugs. The white-gold case is water-resistant to 30 metres, so while it will not be your first pick to take into the ocean you can at least feel safe washing your hands while wearing this highly complicated limited-edition watch.

The movement is decorated in a manner that creates an aesthetic typically associated with a dial. Almost every surface is covered with a Clous de Paris guilloche motif, the edges of the bridges hand bevelled. At the centre of this first dial are blued hours and minutes hands. Above the hands are two apertures, on the left you have the day of the week and month. Below the hands, to the left, is a flying tourbillon that indicates the running seconds as well. At the bottom right of the dial is the Grande Date that gives each calendar numeral it’s own aperture. Each calendar indicator is instantaneous, which means they will each precisely advance at 12:00 each evening. In the top left and right corners of the dial, within two small squared apertures, you’ll find a night and day indicator on the left and the leap year indicator on the right. Night is symbolized with the colour blue, while day is symbolized through the color white.

Simply slide and flip the case cradle over to reveal the second dial. The second dial also tells the time, but in a different format then dial one. Here the time is displayed via a jumping digital hour, along with a peripheral red arrow minute indicator that rotates around the outer circumference of the sub-dial plate. Dial two also puts the minute repeater on full display. At 12′ you can see an openworked barrel that is home to a mainspring, and at 9′ you can see the silent chime governor patented by JLC in 1895 to eliminate the buzzing noise created by the older anchor system. The minute repeater hammers can be found at the bottom side of the dial, attached to the sapphire crystal directly to exploit the acoustic properties of the glass. The articulated trebuchet hammers (originally developed for the 2009 Hybris Mechanica Duomètre à Grande Sonnerie) ensure that a clean and strong strike to the gongs is delivered with each slide of the lever above the crown. Once activated the minute repeater will first chime a series of low notes that correlate to the number of hours. Second, you’ll hear an alternating couplet of high and low chimes that correspond to the quarter-hours. Lastly, a succession of high notes concludes the melody of the repeater – indicating the number of minutes to be added to the elapsed quarters. It also utilizes a system that avoids dead time, which minimizes the silence between chiming intervals.

The third dial is only visible with the mid case in the open position. It features a Northern Hemisphere Moon Phase, Draconic Lunar Cycle (height of the moon), Anomalistic Lunar Cycle (apogee and perigee), Month, and Year indications. This is the first time ever in the history of mechanical horology that the synodic cycle, the draconic cycle and the anomalistic cycle are all displayed in a single wristwatch. On the top half of the third dial is a laser-engraved moon disc that is progressively covered and revealed by a mobile blue lacquer disc with gold glitter décor. These two discs work together to reveal the age of the moon in the synodic cycle. According to Jaeger-LeCoultre, “While conventional displays of the moon phase accumulate one day of error after 32.5 months, the moon phase display of the Quadriptyque requires only one adjustment after 1,111 years.”

Below the moon phase display, are two smaller registers. On the left, is a three-dimensional micro-sculpted pink-gold sun orbited by a tiny hemispherical moon. This register displays the draconic cycle, showing when the path of the Moon intersects with the orbit of the Earth around the Sun (known as the ecliptic). Such an intersection takes place twice in each cycle, indicated by the horizontal alignment on the counter of the moon and the sun. To the right of the draconic cycle counter is a domed representation of the Earth, micro-painted in enamel with a hemispherical moon in eccentric orbit around it. This counter represents the anomalistic cycle, showing the varying distance between the Earth and Moon in real time. At the bottom of the dial, the numeral day of the month and the year are also indicated – with the first dial not as visible when interpreting the third. That being said it is also a visual cue to ensure the information on the first and third dial are in sync.

For those offended they may not be represented living in the Southern Hemisphere, dial four has you covered. The fourth dial found on the caseback of the watch displays the Southern Hemisphere moon phase. A star-flecked sky chart, engraved and lacquered in a gradient of blue shades, forms the backdrop to the pink-gold moon phase indicator. This duality of hemisphere representation is a parallel to the essence of the Reverso’s design. Being a watch known to have dual faces visible as you flip the inner cradle of the case, it was important to JLC to find a way to embody the information of both hemispheres.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 (Quadriptyque) is paired with a blue alligator strap that matches the blue tone of the third and fourth dial. It also has a white gold deployant clasp to match the case, providing added comfort and closure for the wearer. The clasp is not your ordinary deployant clasp, it actually has two discs that can be rotated with your finger that allow fine tuning of the fit down to the millimetre.

The manually wound in-house caliber 185 powers the above four dials and the eleven complications hosted throughout the watch. It has a power reserve of 50 hours, which is incredible when you consider the number of complications within. Fifty hours beats the 48 hours in my Rolex Submariner ref. 114060, and that’s a time-only watch! So Zach, how does the information get relayed to the third and fourth dials? On the top of the middle cradle of the case is a button that at 12:00 each evening engages a button in the caseback to progress the complications of the third and fourth dials.

While the highly complicated watch may seem intimidating to set and wear, Jaeger-LeCoultre has meticulously designed the case and movement to make the experience easier for the wearer. Jaeger-LeCoultre explains, “The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 comes in an exceptional presentation box with a built-in mechanism that allows the wearer to quickly and intuitively set all the calendar and astronomical displays of the watch after a period of being unworn. A two-position crown on the side of the box is used to first set the number of days that have elapsed since the watch was last worn. With the Quadriptyque set within the correction support frame, the box corrector crown can then be extended to its second position and wound to rapidly bring the watch to the current date for all calendar and astronomical indications. There is no risk of overcorrecting the watch or damaging the movement, since the entire process is controlled by the box corrector mechanism.”

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 (Quadriptyque) pricing & availability:

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 (Quadriptyque) is a limited edition of 10 pieces. Price: €1.35 million