Sophisticated and rugged are two words not commonly seen together, but when describing the sport of Polo, or the players of the sport, no two words are better suited. However, this combination didn't bode well for the polo player's watches, which saw constant abuse due to most watches featuring an exposed crystal. So after a conversation with a Polo player who just broke their crystal while playing a match in India, Swiss businessman César de Trey brought the idea of a watch that could survive the harsh conditions of a Polo match to Jacques-David LeCoultre, who was the owner of JLC. Jacques-David took this concept to his head designer at the time, René-Alfred Chauvot, who quickly designed and patented the sophisticated and rugged Reverso design.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso on its own is a stunning dress piece, however, its ability to flip over on its case to protect its finer watchmaking components was nothing short of revolutionary at the time of its conception. Since 1931, JLC has introduced numerous variants of this iconic timepiece including dual face variants that feature numerous useful complications.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Grande GMT ref. 240.8.18 is an impressive feat of watchmaking engineering, featuring a slew of interesting complications packed into a relatively compact case. The duo face manual wind watch is essentially two watches in one, with one side featuring a silver guilloche dial, and the other being a textured black dial. The silver dial features a day and night indicator, a sub-seconds dial, and a big date as its complications. The black dial features an 8-day power reserve, a 24-hour sub-dial, and its own day and night indicator. The pushers on the side of the case are used to independently set the hour hand on the black dial of the watch, effectively and easily allowing the wearer to track two timezones at the same time.

SPECS

CASE & BRACELET

The unpolished art deco case shows minimal signs of light use. Both crystals remain blemish-free and clean. The case retains its original crown and pushers. The watch comes supplied on its original Jaeger-LeCoultre brown crocodile strap with its Jaeger-LeCoultre signed deployant clasp.

DIAL & HANDS

Both the silver and black dials remain in flawless condition. The original hands on both dials are in flawless condition as well. 

ACCESSORIES 

The watch comes with its original instructions and guarantee booklets. The watch is functioning and keeping time perfectly, previous service history is unknown.