Created by Jacques-David LeCoultre in 1931, the Reverso was conceived to withstand the knocks a watch might take during a polo match. Its ingenuity lies in its namesake design—a reversible case that flips to protect the dial and returns to its original position with a simple flick and slide. Over time, the Reverso evolved from a rugged sporting watch into one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most defining creations, spawning numerous variations to suit modern collectors and connoisseurs alike.
Presented today is a very special variant of the Reverso–the Reverso Tourbillon 270.2.68 in 18-carat rose gold. Released in 1993 with a worldwide production limited to 500 units, this example has an aesthetic that is quite unlike any Reversos I’ve seen and handled before.
To appreciate what makes this model special, it helps to understand the context in which it was born. When the 270.2.68 debuted, Jaeger-LeCoultre was just emerging from the turbulent quartz crisis. Then-CEO Henry-John Belmont, French designer Janek Deleskiewicz, and the visionary Günter Blümlein, who oversaw Jaeger-LeCoultre’s operations at the time, recognised the brand’s immense technical potential, rooted in its legacy as a premier in-house movement manufacturer. This realisation would become instrumental in the brand’s resurgence in the post-quartz crisis era.
The Tourbillon 270.2.68 was developed with one of the brand’s key watchmakers at the time, Sylvain Golay, and unveiled as part of a six-piece limited Reverso series released between 1991 and 2000 to mark the model’s 60th anniversary. The series included the Soixantième, Minute Repeater, Géographique, Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar, and the Tourbillon seen here. Collectively, these milestones reestablished Jaeger-LeCoultre’s status as one of Switzerland’s most respected movement makers.
The 18-carat rose gold Grande Taille case measures 42mm x 26mm with a slim 10mm profile—impressive given the tourbillon inside. Like many subsequent Reverso models, the case is polished entirely and reveals a beautiful perlage and its hallmarks on the inner chassis. The primary dial, crafted in galvanised silver, features blued steel hands, a guilloché centre with a small seconds sub-dial at 6:00, and ten highly sober Arabic numerals surrounding an applied ‘JLC’ logo at 12:00.
Flip the case, and the magic reveals itself. The reverse side exposes the hand-wound Cal. 828, one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first serially produced tourbillon-regulated movements. Much of the mechanism sits beneath finely engraved gold plates, while the one-minute tourbillon at 6:00 commands attention under a beautifully openworked bridge. A power reserve indicator at the upper right corner tracks the movement’s 45-hour autonomy.
For those unfamiliar, the tourbillon is a complication originally developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the early 1800s to counteract the effects of gravity on timekeeping accuracy. It works by placing the escapement and balance wheel inside an isolated rotating cage, which typically completes one full rotation per minute. This constant motion changes the position of the escapement, helping to average out positional errors caused by gravity over time.
What makes this particular movement even more remarkable is that it was purpose-built to fit this exact Reverso case, resulting in a proportionally perfect, rectangular in-house calibre. I highly doubt many brands today would be willing to invest in such a specialised undertaking. Although the main dial is meant to face outward when worn, I found myself flipping it often just to admire the mesmerising tourbillon in motion. It’s easily the watch’s most captivating feature.
I have to say, the Reverso Tourbillon 270.2.68 is as cool as it gets: rare, visually and technically fascinating, and steeped in history. It captures the essence of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s mechanical resurgence during the post-quartz era and stands among the most desirable Reversos ever produced. For the true connoisseur, it is among the most coveted and sought-after iterations of the Reverso—a reference that fully deserves its acclaim and should not be overlooked by any serious collector.
