Last year, Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrated the roots of the Reverso with a limited edition model of the Tribute To 1931 called the "US Limited Edition". This fake watch closely resembled the standard production TT 1931 Reverso but took on a slightly more historic tone, with a warmer shade to the hands and hour markers, and slightly different script on the dial. But, what made the limited edition of 100 US Edition Reverso stand out (see our detailed ruminations on it here here) and made it one of the hottest selling replica watches of 2011 for JLC was the strap on which it came.
You see, the strap that came on the US Edition of the TT 1931 Reverso was hand-made by Casa Fagliano - and Casa Fagliano is the leading producer of championship grade polo boots in the world. But when we say "leading" we certainly don't mean they make the most - in fact, they make but 90 pairs of boots per year - by "leading" we mean that they are regarded the world over as the finest riding boots money can buy. They are made by hand in the suburbs of Buenos Aires just as they were four generations ago, and with the US Edition Reverso, the 100 lucky owners would be granted access to the exclusive club of Casa Fagliano.
With the 2011 edition, all 100 replica watches came with a black, hand-stitched shell cordovan Fagliano strap. And this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre invited us down to Buenos Aires to get an early look at the second iteration of the Fagliano strap for the Reverso.
This time around, the special edition Reverso will come with a similarly styled strap to last year, but this time it will be in rich brown instead of a black, and with contrasting stitching. This strap really brings out the "polo" in the watch, and it looks absolutely fantastic. These straps, like Fagliano's boots, are cut, stamped and sewn completely by hand without the use of any electrical equipment, and are, in our opinion, the absolute finest straps in watches. It is hard to appreciate the work that goes into both these straps and the incredible boots made by Fagliano without seeing how the work is done - the workshop is really a relic to a generation of artisans that is long gone, and one some cases never existed in many parts of the world. Later today, we will take you inside this incredible workshop.
Only 100 of these rich honey brown straps will be made for JLC, and they will be sold exclusively with Tribute To 1931 Reverso Limited Edition replica watches (no, you can not order them through JLC or Casa Fagliano, as 100 straps is quite literally the most they can make in one year due to existing boot orders - there is over a one year wait list for their boots, and you don't want to piss off the people on that list). But, one thing that has changed from last year, in that this fake watch was initially dubbed "The US Limited Edition," with all 100 replica watches being delivered to the US, but for 2012, 70 of the replica watches will be delivered to the US, while the remaining 30 will be sent worldwide, due to such strong demand for the Fagliano strap internationally.
These special Reverso are again poised to be incredibly quick sellers, so if you are interested in one, we recommend you contact the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique in Beverly Hills (+1.310.734.0525 or boutique.beverlyhills@jaeger-lecoultre.com) as soon as possible to place your order.
For more information on the Tribute To 1931 Reverso, click here.
Stay Tuned: Later today we will be taking you inside the Casa Fagliano workshop in Argentina. You've never seen anything like it.
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