Craft, at its heart, is about care — whether you're tracing coastlines on a globe or assembling the tiny gears of a watch. Both ask for precision, time, and a respect for tradition.
That’s what made this collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre feel so natural. A globe holds the world in space; a watch, in time. And in both, there’s beauty in the details — the ones you only notice when you slow down and look closely.
The World on Your Wrist: A Collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre
Craft in Conversation
A few days ago, in Florence and Milan, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Jaeger-LeCoultre for the unveiling of their new Reverso Tribute Geographic — a timepiece that, quite literally, brings the world into view. My globes were presented alongside the watch: two objects from different disciplines, yet both concerned with how we understand place and time.
The Reverso, with its signature swivelling case, reveals two faces — one, a classic dial in sunray-brushed blue or warm chocolate; the other, a finely hand-enamelled map of the Northern Hemisphere, encircled by a 24-hour ring and engraved with city names. It’s a quiet feat of the world time complication, executed with the level of detail and care that only fine watchmaking allows. That same spirit of precision and patience is central to globe-making too: each line, each contour is drawn by hand, built up layer by layer. These are not just objects of utility — they’re expressions of how craft can turn time and space into something personal, poetic, and enduring.
A Brief History of Time Zones
After my presentation, the Jaeger-LeCoultre team offered a fascinating look into how we’ve come to measure time. Before the 19th century, each town kept its own local time, based on the sun. It worked well enough — until the rise of trains and telegraphs made synchronisation essential. Canadian engineer Sir Sandford Fleming proposed dividing the world into 24 time zones based on the Greenwich meridian — a radical idea at the time, but one that eventually became standard. This shift laid the groundwork for horologists to create tools for a newly connected world.
In 1930, Swiss watchmaker Louis Cottier developed the first true world time mechanism. Jaeger-LeCoultre quickly recognised its potential, and went on to create landmark models like the Memovox World Time, the Master Geographic, and the Master World Time — elegant instruments for travellers and thinkers alike. Behind every one of these watches is a deep respect for craft — for the invisible hours behind every visible one.
Shared Values, Different Scales
The Reverso Tribute Geographic continues that legacy, combining technical ingenuity with quiet poetry. It doesn’t shout for attention — much like a globe on a shelf — but invites closer study. Its richness reveals itself gradually, through weight, finish, and proportion.
For me, this collaboration wasn’t about comparing disciplines, but about discovering their harmony. Both horology and cartography rely on care, time, and tradition. Whether drawing coastlines or assembling a movement, the process is slow, intentional, and deeply human. In a world increasingly dominated by speed, these crafts remind us that meaning is often found in what takes time to make — and time to appreciate.
Looking Further
If you enjoyed this glimpse into the intersection of watchmaking and globe-making, I invite you to explore more stories from the studio — where material, memory, and craftsmanship meet. In each blog, you’ll find small windows into the work behind the objects: the processes, the histories, and the ideas that shape them.
