Reverso Tribute Enamel Hokusai Waterfalls: The last four
Jaeger-LeCoultre will complete the Reverso Tribute Enamel series centered around Hokusai’s Waterfall Series, which has been ongoing since 2021. The four concluding pieces depict the Rōben Falls in the Province of Sagami, the Kiyotaki Kannon Falls on the Tōkaidō, the Yōrō Falls in the Province of Mino, and the Aoigaoka Falls in the eastern capital. Hokusai’s cycle is especially interesting because it is one of the earliest applications of Prussian blue in Japanese print art. This pigment, originally synthesized in Berlin in 1704, reached Japan in the early 19th century and offered a depth and permanence that plant-based indigo dyes could not achieve. Hokusai was an early and consistent user, and the waterfall series shows this application with a high blue content. The rendition on the Reverso backs is done using the Geneva miniature painting technique: at least 14 layers of enamel, each individually fired at 800 degrees, totaling 80 hours of work per piece.
Reproducing the bokashi effect (gradual color gradient in woodblock prints) in enamel is one of the most challenging transfer tasks in enamel painting. Remarkable: the Japanese original signatures in the image cartouches are handwritten on an area of 2 cm² and still readable. The front dials each feature a different guilloché pattern, thematically matched to the back image: barleycorn engraving (Rōben, 147 stitches), wave engraving (Kiyotaki, 198 stitches), bamboo pattern (Yōrō, 144 stitches), herringbone engraving (Aoigaoka, 360 stitches). Four to five layers of translucent enamel are applied over the guilloché motif. All four models are made in 18K white gold cases, measuring 45.6 × 27.4 millimeters, with a height of 9.73 millimeters. The watches are powered by the caliber 822 with manual winding (2.94 millimeters in height), and the power reserve is 42 hours. The series can be combined with a black alligator strap or with the Milanese bracelet introduced last year— now in white gold for the first time. Limited to 10 pieces each. Priced from at least $165,000.
Big picture: What 2026 Means for Jaeger-LeCoultre
Rarely has a single manufacturer covered such a wide range of complexity levels in one year: from the 38-millimeter dress sport watch for upscale everyday use to the triple-axis tourbillon on a platinum base in 20 pieces. Jaeger-LeCoultre addresses a market in the Master Control Chronometer collection that has been largely dominated by Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin, and does so with a new HPG seal as its own quality feature. It certifies, in addition to the finishing, the chronometric precision in the wound state. The test protocol is patent-pending and evaluates the finished calibrated watch under four everyday parameters: altitude, shocks, positions, and temperature. Additionally, each model carries external COSC certification, which is a prerequisite for the designation “Chronomètre.”
At the same time, the manufacture asserts a horological frontier position with the Gyrotourbillon À Stratosphère and the Hybris Mechanica Minute Repeater Tourbillon, which only a few can reach worldwide. The Reverso remains what it has always been: the most flexible platform for craftsmanship in the Swiss watch market. With La Vallée des Merveilles, this area now receives its own brand architecture, which means in the long term that Jaeger-LeCoultre can position collector watches at a collector’s level in an independent logic without burdening the classic Reverso line.
The overarching motto “Valley of Inventions” experiences its first physical implementation at the Watches and Wonders booth in Geneva, where Jaeger-LeCoultre stages the history of the Vallée de Joux as the birthplace of modern watchmaking art.
To learn more, visit Jaeger-LeCoultre, here.