The Reverso has always invited a second look: its case turns over. On the Reverso Tribute Enamel Hokusai Waterfalls, the front carries a traditional dial and the reverse holds a miniature enamel painting. The four designs draw on Hokusai’s Japanese waterfall series, with ten watches made for each. [1]
What is fascinating is not only the motif, but the scale. An enameller works on an area of roughly two square centimetres. According to the manufacture, each caseback requires at least 14 layers of Grand Feu enamel and repeated firings at around 800 degrees. The enamelling alone takes about 80 hours, while the total craft approaches 100 hours per watch. [1]
Four interpretations
Hokusai’s waterfalls are not applied as prints. They are interpreted in hand-painted enamel, so colour, depth and light depend on the material’s construction. Each motif covers less than a postage stamp, but seeks to preserve the movement in the original image. [1]
The case is made in 18-carat white gold and houses the manually wound calibre 822. Jaeger-LeCoultre gives the power reserve as 42 hours. [1]
Eight waterfalls, four new watches
Hokusai's Waterfalls series comprises eight images. Jaeger-LeCoultre interpreted four in earlier years and completed the group with four new watches in 2026. This gives the collection a continuity that one decorative watch could not convey. The waterfalls differ in force and rhythm, but Prussian blue connects the pictures. The pigment was a technical novelty in Hokusai's day; on the watches, the colour has to be built anew through layers of enamel. [1]
Two sides of the same craft
There is something to discover on both sides of the case. Jaeger-LeCoultre describes hand-cut guilloché beneath several layers of translucent enamel on the front. The miniature on the reverse even includes the original Japanese captions, painted at a microscopic scale. The restrained dial and the richly coloured waterfall become two expressions of the same craft: one geometric and calm, the other full of motion. [1]