Tuesday 1 November, Jaeger-LeCoultre hosted a lively soirée in the heart of Manhattan to celebrate the opening of the Reverso 1931 Café. Taking its design cues from Art Deco, the Café pays homage to the Reverso – a timepiece created in 1931 and considered an icon of Art Deco design; it also pays tribute to the Art Deco style that remains very evident to this day in the visual landscape of New York City.
Brooklyn-based lettering artist Alex Trochut unveiled the new 1931 Alphabet specially created for Jaeger-LeCoultre. Celebrated for the way that he harnesses the visual potential of language to redefine typography, Alex turned to Art Deco as his stylistic springboard for the new lettering. “It’s a real pleasure to collaborate with Jaeger-LeCoultre on this project and reveal the new 1931 alphabet in the setting of the Reverso 1931 Café”, said Alex.
During the evening, a DJ set was provided by 5-time Grammy winning, Oscar winning, director, author and musician Ahmir «Questlove» Thompson, the drummer and band leader for The Roots who serve as the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Also among the guests was New York-based artist Michael Murphy, pioneer of the perceptual art movement. In 2021, marking the 90th anniversary of the Reverso, he created the installation Space Time, which transports its viewers through the three physical dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time. Both artists are collaborating with Jaeger-LeCoultre under the aegis of its Made of Makers programme – an ongoing series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, which explores and extends the dialogue that exists between horology and art.
The Reverso 1931 Café offers a collection of pastries specially designed by the Paris-based chef Nina Métayer – also an alumnus of Made of Makers – to echo the Art Deco aesthetic of the interior design, and featuring flavours from Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, the home of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The Reverso 1931 Café will be open at 729 Madison Avenue until Tuesday 22 November, then will become nomadic throughout the city, making appearances in Soho and Bryant Park between November 25th and December 2nd.
About the Reverso:
In 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre launched a timepiece that was destined to become a classic of 20th-century design: the Reverso. Created to withstand the rigours of polo matches, its sleek, Art Deco lines and distinctive reversible case make it one of the most immediately recognisable watches of all time. Through nine decades the Reverso has continually reinvented itself without ever compromising its identity: it has housed more than 50 different calibres, while its blank metal flip side has become a canvas for creative expression, decorated with enamel, engravings or gemstones. Today, 90 years after the Reverso was born, it continues to epitomise the spirit of modernity that inspired its creation.
Written by Jaeger-LeCoultre press & media team.