The Reverso and the rationalists

In the early 1930s, two very different objects were being designed a few hundred kilometres apart. Neither designer is known to have thought of the other. Both, in their own ways, pursued the same idea: that elegance can come from reason rather than ornament.

A case that turns over

The story of the Reverso, told by Jaeger-LeCoultre and repeated ever since, begins with polo. British officers in India are said to have wanted a watch that could survive a match, since crystals shattered easily. The answer, patented in 1931, was a rectangular case that slides and flips within its cradle, turning a solid metal back outward to protect the dial.

The result was pure Art Deco: a rectangle defined by horizontal gadroons (fine parallel ridges) at top and bottom, and proportions based on careful geometry rather than decoration. The solid back later became a canvas for engraving and enamel, and the flip became a small daily ritual that owners still enjoy.

A building of glass and grid

In Como, in the same years, the architect Giuseppe Terragni was designing the Casa del Fascio, completed in the mid-1930s. It is a building with a difficult history. It was built as the local headquarters of the Fascist party, and it should be understood that way. Architecturally, it is one of the key works of Italian rationalism. Its nearly square block, white facade and open structural grid are organised with an almost mathematical discipline.

Visitors to Como can see it from Piazza del Popolo, near the cathedral. It is an architecture stop, not a museum or a hotel. It is still in official use, so check locally before expecting to go inside.

The shared idea

Put the two side by side and the family resemblance is plain. Each is a rectangle given life by proportion, each lets its structure show, and each finds luxury in precision. That is why a Reverso makes a natural companion for a few days on Lake Como, where the lake's villas look back to the Renaissance and Como's rationalist buildings look firmly forward.

See how the watch fits a complete journey in the Lake Como escape.