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Lot Essay
This exceptional and glamorous Reverso à Éclipses is part of an extremely limited series featuring exquisitely hand painted Grand Feu enamel reproductions of well known paintings from classical European art, including works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Klimt, Botticelli, Ingres, and even a scene from the Kama Sutra. For the dial of the present watch, the enamel artist has faithfully reproduced in miniature Gustav Klimt’s masterpiece ‘The Kiss’ of 1907-8. It is also the highly coveted and prestigious number 1 of 10 pieces, offered in superb like new condition, it is accompanied by the full set of accessories.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s famous Reverso celebrated its 91st birthday in 2022. The design has barely changed since it was first tested in 1931. Created as an ingenious solution to protecting the glass of a watch from getting smashed on the polo field, it allowed the players to turn or ‘reverse’ the dial side to the back so the glass was not exposed.
The form of the Reverso provides a natural canvas for decoration with its usually empty rectangular case back and therefore the company offers a multitude of personalization options for that reason. However, the Reverso à Éclipses is much more complex and exclusive, instead it is enamelled on the dial which can be hidden by a rolling shutter. Whilst still functioning as a Reverso in the traditional sense with swiveling case, the shutter mechanism allows the wearer three different views of the hand-painted dial. Jaeger LeCoultre is one of the few Swiss manufacturers with their own in-house enamel workshop. Each painting is a unique and an entirely hand-painted work of art which was painstakingly reproduced using the technique of miniature enamel painting which is fired at high temperatures, a technique perfected at Jaeger-LeCoultre by its master enameller Miklos Merczel.
Jaeger-LeCoultre said of this series: “The Reverso à Éclipses is in harmony with the grand tradition of ‘secret’ watches. It is the first watch to have a truly twin-level dial, one composed of shutters that can be viewed at any time, and the other which is enamelled and may remain the owner’s personal secret.”
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
A world-famous oil painting with added gold leaf, silver and platinum by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. It was painted at some point in 1907 and 1908, during the height of what scholars call his ‘Golden Period’. It was exhibited in 1908 under the title ‘Liebespaar’ (the lovers) as stated in the catalogue of the exhibition. The painting depicts a couple embracing each other, their bodies entwined in elaborate beautiful robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement. The painting now hangs in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Vienna, and is considered a masterpiece of Vienna Secession and Klimt's most popular work after Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s famous Reverso celebrated its 91st birthday in 2022. The design has barely changed since it was first tested in 1931. Created as an ingenious solution to protecting the glass of a watch from getting smashed on the polo field, it allowed the players to turn or ‘reverse’ the dial side to the back so the glass was not exposed.
The form of the Reverso provides a natural canvas for decoration with its usually empty rectangular case back and therefore the company offers a multitude of personalization options for that reason. However, the Reverso à Éclipses is much more complex and exclusive, instead it is enamelled on the dial which can be hidden by a rolling shutter. Whilst still functioning as a Reverso in the traditional sense with swiveling case, the shutter mechanism allows the wearer three different views of the hand-painted dial. Jaeger LeCoultre is one of the few Swiss manufacturers with their own in-house enamel workshop. Each painting is a unique and an entirely hand-painted work of art which was painstakingly reproduced using the technique of miniature enamel painting which is fired at high temperatures, a technique perfected at Jaeger-LeCoultre by its master enameller Miklos Merczel.
Jaeger-LeCoultre said of this series: “The Reverso à Éclipses is in harmony with the grand tradition of ‘secret’ watches. It is the first watch to have a truly twin-level dial, one composed of shutters that can be viewed at any time, and the other which is enamelled and may remain the owner’s personal secret.”
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
A world-famous oil painting with added gold leaf, silver and platinum by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. It was painted at some point in 1907 and 1908, during the height of what scholars call his ‘Golden Period’. It was exhibited in 1908 under the title ‘Liebespaar’ (the lovers) as stated in the catalogue of the exhibition. The painting depicts a couple embracing each other, their bodies entwined in elaborate beautiful robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement. The painting now hangs in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Vienna, and is considered a masterpiece of Vienna Secession and Klimt's most popular work after Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.