Mario C 
It’s Snake Week 2025, this being the year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar, and like other years, some of the biggest watch brands have come out with their contribution to the Lunar new Year. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces yet another limited edition enamelled work of art from the master Maison.
Adding yet another feather into the cap of their Métiers Rares™ department, the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture is taking to business as usual with a brand-new rendition of the Reverso Tribute Enamel.
Since the Reverso’s introduction into the JLC lineup in 1931, its rotating form has taken a massive departure from its original purpose. Used to protect the watch during games of horseback polo, the Reverso’s empty caseback has now evolved into the ultimate blank canvas for artistic expression. From the works of Hokusai to Claude Monet, almost every traditional art form you can think of has at one point been expressed onto the solid case back of JLC’s most iconic brainchild.
Though the Reverso Tribute Enamel ‘Snake’ is indelibly associated with Chinese culture, the imaginative artwork that appears on the rear of the case is credited to Jaeger-LeCoultre alone. Celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year, the master craftsmen at the Le Sentier-based brand have taken it upon themselves to depict 2025’s Zodiac animal in precious grand feu enamel.
IPut simply, grand feu, or ‘great fire,’ involves layering up to six black sheets of enamel. This can only be achieved by constantly firing, cooling, and re-firing all layers of enamel – a process that can take up to 24 working hours. Even then, the result of the firing still remains unpredictable, and completion of the pure black enamel is followed by yet another half-day’s worth of polishing to get it exactly right.
Imagine the amount of pressure, then, that the master engravers would have when it comes to engraving the elaborate snake atop this pure black surface. Another 80 hours is taken by the engraver, who uses a 10-strong set of chisels to delicately bring the snake to life. From the forked tongue to the smallest scale, great care is taken to ensure that the creature is depicted appropriate to its wise and mysterious nature, in-line with Chinese tradition.
While the black grand feu is undoubtedly the star of the show, Jaeger-LeCoultre have once again taken it upon themselves to ensure that no expense has been spared in this timepiece’s creation. The Reverso Tribute Enamel ‘Snake’ is once again decked out in 18k pink gold, and stands at a comfortable 27.4mm case diameter x 45.5mm lug-to-lug x 9.73mm thickness.
The black grand feu makes its presence known once again on the dial of the watch, contracted by the sharply pointed Dauphine hands that remain a signature of the Reverso Tribute collection. Lastly, these hands remain powered by the familiar Cal. 822, whose 42 hours of manually-wound power reserve represent a tried-and-tested formula at the Richemont brand.
My Thoughts
To be honest with you, there’s not much new to marvel at here in the grand scheme of things. If you know about last year’s limited edition release, it was more or less the same kind of watch but with a hand-engraved dragon on the back. However, that by no means diminishes the quality of what Jaeger-LeCoultre have produced as their first official release for 2025.
It’s hard to talk about a watch that you already know all the intricate details of. I know, ‘woe is me’ and all that; Like I’ve said before, I’m grateful to be doing this instead of shovelling sand some place, but it can be challenging if you feel like nothing new has been brought to the table. That being said, the Year of the Snake is my personal Zodiac, and if I was able to talk about the year before, you bet I’m taking the time to talk about this one!
The Reverso has always been an iconic part of the watch world, albeit a relatively niche one – that is, if you’re a complete watch noob. So to see it be used in such a massive capacity warms my heart, like it should for any flagship watch of any brand. And in the end, that’s what matters most to me – that the industry-defining A-listers of the crazy watch world we live in can always get the spotlight that they so deserve.
Reference: Q39324D2
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 27.4 mm case diameter x 45.5 mm lug-to-lug x 9.73 mm thickness
- Case: 18k Pink Gold
- Dial: Black Grand Feu enamel, applied indexes
- Case back: Black Grand Feu enamel, snake engraving
- Water resistance: 30m (3 bar)
- Movement: Manual wind Calibre 822
- Power reserve: 42 hours
- Strap: Black alligator with 18k Pink Gold folding clasp/pin buckle
