In this year’s Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here is our Watch of the Year, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179
High complications seemed to take a back seat to artisanal craftsmanship this year, but Jaeger-LeCoultre pulled a double whammy with both the above in the Reverso Hybris Artistica Calibre 179 (limited to 10, price upon request). The movement houses the fourth interpretation of the brand’s multi-axis tourbillon and the second Gyrotourbillon shaped for the Reverso’s rectangular case. Seven years ago, it debuted in the Reverso Tribute Tourbillon, which featured ornately decorated German silver bridges on the skeletonised side and a German silver sunray plate surrounding the tourbillon aperture on the reverse. The latest version updates this concept with a sleeker, more modern vibe. The Gyrotourbillon, which has an inner cage that rotates 360 degrees every 16 seconds and a peripheral cage making a full rotation once per minute, appears to float within a frame of dark-blue lacquer adorned with a lattice of golden lines. On the flip side is a skeletonised take with gold-lined dark-blue bridges offering a view of some of the 382 movement components. A serious piece of watchmaking.
