Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel Hokusai Waterfalls Series

Key Highlights

• Four Reverso Tribute Enamel limited editions, each a 10-piece series, completing Hokusai’s eight-part “A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces”.
• Hand-guilloché and grand feu enamel dials with miniature-painted enamel casebacks based on Hokusai woodblock prints.
• Almost 100 hours of Métiers Rares™ work per watch, with caseback enamels needing at least 14 firings at 800°C.
• 18K white gold Reverso cases with Calibre 822 manual-wind movement and 42-hour power reserve.
• References Q39334T7, Q39334T8, Q39334T6 and Q39331T9 on black alligator strap or 18K white gold “Or Deco” Milanese bracelet.

Completing a Tribute Eight Years in the Making

Since 2018, Jaeger-LeCoultre has honoured Katsushika Hokusai with Reverso Tribute Enamel limited editions, beginning with The Great Wave off Kanagawa from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. In 2021 came Kirifuri Waterfall at Kurokami Mountain in Shimotsuke, the first watch based on “A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces”, followed in 2022 by The Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaidō Road and, in 2023, by The Waterfall at Ono on the Kisokaidō Road and The Waterfall Where Yoshitsune Washed his Horse at Yoshino in Yamato.

The 2026 release closes the cycle with the remaining images: Rōben Waterfall at Ōyama in Sagami Province; Kiyotaki Kannon Waterfall at Sakanoshita on the Tōkaidō; Yōrō Waterfall in Mino Province; and The Falls at Aoigaoka in the Eastern Capital, each appearing as a 10-piece limited edition hand-decorated by the Métiers Rares™ atelier.

An Artistic Bridge Between East and West

Hokusai (c.1760–1849) helped move ukiyo-e beyond its earlier subjects to embrace landscapes, plants and animals, and through woodblock printing his work shaped Western views of Japanese art. The “Waterfalls” series made falling water the central theme and was among his early uses of Prussian blue, a synthetic European pigment that let him render the power and movement of water more vividly than with traditional indigo-derived blues.

The Métiers Rares™ at Their Most Demanding

The reverse of each watch carries a miniature enamel painting in the Geneva technique. At least 14 layers of enamel are fired at 800°C, totalling about 80 hours of work, with Hokusai’s palette and shaded bokashi effects translated onto a surface of roughly 2 cm²; the cartouches at the top of each frame retain their original Japanese captions, handwritten on a microscopic scale.

The front dial is pared back, with faceted baton hour markers, Dauphine hands and a chemin-de-fer minute track. After the guilloché motif is engraved, four to five layers of translucent coloured enamel are applied, each with its own firing and drying cycle.

Four Gem-Set Interpretations

The four compositions are matched to distinct guilloché patterns and enamel colours, creating four interpretations of the Waterfalls series:

• Rōben Waterfall at Ōyama in Sagami Province pairs a barleycorn pattern with light walnut-brown enamel.
• Kiyotaki Kannon Waterfall at Sakanoshita on the Tōkaidō uses wavy guilloché under emerald-toned enamel.
• Yōrō Waterfall in Mino Province combines bamboo-style guilloché with rich olive enamel.
• The Falls at Aoigaoka in the Eastern Capital is set against herringbone guilloché in vibrant cyan-blue enamel.

Movement, Case and Strap

All four references share an 18K white gold Reverso case measuring 45.6 x 27.4 mm with a thickness of 9.73 mm and water resistance to 30 metres. They are powered by the manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822, introduced in 1991 and shaped to follow the rectangular form.

At 2.94 mm in height, the movement keeps a slim profile while offering a 42-hour power reserve at 3 Hz. Each watch is delivered with an interchangeable black alligator leather strap with 18K white gold folding buckle or an 18K white gold “Or Deco” Milanese bracelet.

Why It Matters

For GCC collectors, this release completes a long-running artistic project that has positioned the Reverso as a refined canvas for cross-cultural craft. With only ten examples of each reference and almost a hundred hours of Métiers Rares™ work invested in every piece, these watches stand among the most considered acquisitions in contemporary high watchmaking.