A long time ago, in the early 2000's, I read a well written article saying that for some brands, there were some cannibal watches: For example, Audemars Piguet is cannibalized by the Royal Oak, Blancpain by the Fifty Fathoms, Omega by the Speedmaster... And when it comes to Jaeger Lecoultre, by the Reverso.
On this matter, I agree and disagree. Ok, if you are talking to somebody who is not passionate about watches he may give you this kind of answers. Ok, some brands play a tricky game, and if they are cannibalized by some of their watches, it may be because they want to do so. See Omega, for example. Each year they launch an endless series of Speedies, in LE or not. Go to their Museum, you will see all the place the Speedmaster takes!
Back to Jaeger Lecoultre, in this article it was said that the Reverso was so important that it supplanted the name of the brand in people's mind, thinking that the Reverso is a brand apart of Jaeger Lecoultre.
It is true that the Reverso is very important for Jaeger Lecoultre, but at the point to supplant the name of the brand? Certainly not!
It is a fact that the Reverso was born in 1931, and that, in these 90 last years, we saw many of them, some being very important for both the Grande Maison and the watch lovers. See, for instance, the rose gold series in the 90's, the very early Reversos with their colored dials, the Tributes, the Anniversary pieces and this year, the Quadriptyque... They all are masterpieces, at their own level.
A Blue one from circa 1935:
Chocolate, someone?
BUT... There is a big BUT...
La Grande Maison existed way before the Reverso, since... 1833. Since then, Lecoultre, then Jaeger Lecoultre produced an incredible variety of pocket watches, desk watches, wrist watches and even clocks, some of them being very important.
The Atmos line, for example, is an icon. So is the Memovox, since 1950, and in a more recent times, the amazing variety of high end watches, such as the Minute Repeaters, the Gyrotourbillons, and let's not forget the Duometre line which is, for me, tomorrow's icon, and a great classic, already.
The first Memovox, ref 3150:
So, I come back to my question: Which is the first watch which comes to your mind, when you think Jaeger Lecoultre?
Personally, I could not mention just one, as it would be too reductive to what is Jaeger Lecoultre, and not only one watch, but a line.
So may answer is : Geophysic, Memovox, Duometre, Minute Repeater ( because JLC is very innovative when it comes to this complication ) and Reverso.
The legend, the Geophysic:
Master Minute Repeater, launched in 2005. Here the Titanium version, from 2006:
The Duometre à Chronographe, since 2007
The Master Gyrotourbillon One, born in 2004:
You? What kind of Jaeger Lecoultre man or woman are you?
Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts.
Best,
Nicolas