In the watch hall of fame (such a thing exists), Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso sits on the podium. Since 1931, it’s enraptured wrists across the globe. And since the early days of Maison, Jaeger-LeCoutre has harnessed the beauty of Asian motifs and decorative craftsmanship. In a love letter to the charm of Asian artistry, Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to pay homage to the relationship with not one, but two timepieces that spotlight Japanese artist, Hokusai.

Eminent in culture, Hokusai’s work, which you’ll undoubtedly recognise, postulates on the ukiyo-e painting, diversifying a genre that was previously focused on the lifestyle of 19th Century Edo Japan’s merchant class, into a larger pastoral approach including nature.

While Hokusai is typically known for The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the Swiss watchmakers are immortalising the memory of Hokusai through two models decorated with miniature-painted enamel reproductions. Spotlighting his major woodblock works, from the Waterfall at Ono on the Kisokaido Road (Kisokaidō Ono no bakufu) and The Waterfall Where Yoshitsune Washed his Horse at Yoshino in Yamato Province (Washū Yoshino Yoshitsune uma arai no taki) on the Reverso case-backs, consider these delicately engineered timepieces as small canvases to the past. The miniature paintings on the Reverso case-backs were conceived using the Geneva technique, involving at least 14 layers of enamel, each fired at 800°C and requiring a total of 80 hours’ meticulous work.

Honouring the expertise of the Maison’s Métiers RaresTM, showcasing the crafts of miniature painting, the two models reproduced for the collaboration sit in a series of eight ukiyo-e paintings made by the artist, following his travels across Japan’s main island, Honshu, between 1831-1833. Building on an posthumous collaboration between the artist and Maison, who paid homage to his works in 2021 and 2022, this year’s testimonials continue to showcase Jaeger-LeCoultre precedent on bringing watchmaking to other worlds and proving that watchmaking truly is art.

Limited to 10 pieces, discover more at jaegerlecoultre.com.