Is This The Best Dress Watch Of 2025?
We first saw it at Watches & Wonders Geneva earlier this year. At the time, it didn’t scream for our attention. It didn’t try to. But, like a good vodka martini or a perfectly tailored dinner jacket (Casino Royale), the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds quietly got under our skin.
The truth is, we didn’t give it much thought when we first saw it. Not in the way some of the louder novelties do. But the more we saw it, the more it revealed its charm: those sharp Art Deco lines, the rich grain of the golden dial, and that impossibly slim case. This is a watch that doesn’t shout. It murmurs, confidently.
The JLC Reverso Is Never a First Watch
Let’s be honest. No one ever buys a Reverso as their first serious watch. Maybe not even their second. It’s a connoisseur’s choice. The kind of piece you add when your collection already has a sports watch and something a bit more casual.
But if you’re looking for a dress watch with presence not flash and something to wear with a black tie or even under a sharp dinner jacket, this hits the mark.
The Monoface layout is elegant, clean, and about as classic as it gets without being boring. It’s a face that when you take a beat to observe it, then you get it.
A Milanese Moment That Actually Works
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds
What really elevates this Reverso is the bracelet. Jaeger-LeCoultre has gone with a Milanese mesh, a rare choice in traditional watchmaking, but executed here in 18-carat pink gold and paired perfectly with the grained golden dial.
This isn’t your average mesh strap. It sits flush against the wrist, catching light subtly and giving the watch a vintage, almost jewellery-like presence. In a world of linked steel and alligator leather, this feels like a welcome curveball, refined, tactile, and undeniably different. Which is what you want, not more of the same.
It’s Thin, Precious, and Personal
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds
At just 7.56mm thick, the Reverso Tribute Monoface wears like silk under a cuff. The pink gold case measures 45.6mm lug-to-lug by 27.4mm wide, giving it a beautifully elongated profile that’s pure Deco. Water resistance is a modest 3 bar, but that’s not the point this isn’t exactly a pool watch.
Inside, the manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822 keeps things simple and honest: just hours, minutes, and a small seconds at six o’clock. It beats at 21,600vph, has 19 jewels, and delivers a 42-hour power reserve from a single barrel. It’s only 2.94mm thick a testament to the maison’s technical restraint.
On the reverse side? A blank canvas, waiting to be engraved. It’s the kind of old-school luxury we’re glad still exists.
At around $55,000 USD, this isn’t entry-level. But when you’re seeing Rolex asking $88,000 for a Daytona in Everose, the value case becomes clearer. The Reverso doesn’t offer hype. It offers heritage. And in 2025, that might be the smarter play.
This isn’t the watch you buy to flex. It’s the one you buy to keep.
The Last Word
Is it the best dress watch of 2025? It’s certainly the most thoughtful. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds is for the man who’s already been around the block. Who doesn’t need to prove anything. Who just wants something timeless, tactile, and totally his.
