Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Monet – San Giorgio Maggiore

Monet’s series, inspired by Venice’s architecture and light, was created during a prolific 10-week stay in 1908. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Métiers Rares™ Atelier brings this artistry to life, combining miniature painting, enamelling, and guillochage. The challenge of translating Monet’s large works onto a small surface required exceptional skill, including 14 layers of enamel and multiple firings to achieve depth, texture, and color.

“The San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk” was chosen as the backdrop for the Homo Faber Biennial, held on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, across from St Mark’s Square. This location fascinated Monet, who painted it at sunset, focusing on the interplay of light, color, and reflections, with the buildings reduced to silhouettes that anchor the scene. Reproducing this iconic artwork in miniature took around 70 hours of careful work. The watch dial is made from grand feu enamel in a blue hue that complements the sky in the painting on the case back. Reflecting the Art Deco style of the Reverso, the herringbone guilloché pattern on the dial consists of 120 lines, each requiring three passes of the lathe, totaling 360 lines, a precise process that takes eight hours to complete.

Limited to 10 pieces each, these watches embody a tribute to Venice and a fusion of fine watchmaking and decorative arts.