Nearly a century after the Reverso first flipped its way into the upper echelons of horological lore, Jaeger-LeCoultre returns to the Reverso’s genesis through a medium as unexpected as it is fitting: a webcomic. Under La Grande Maison’s Made of Makers™ programme, Jaeger-LeCoultre commissioned webcomic designer Olivecoat to retell the origin story of the Art Deco icon in The Reverso Webcomic By Olivecoat. After recent ventures into perfumery and chocolaterie under the Made of MakersTM programme, where creativity, expertise and precision from disciplines outside of watchmaking are explored, this marks Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first exploration of “The Ninth Art”.
Comic art is often mistaken as a modern pop-culture invention. However, its lineage of narrating stories through image sequences stretches back into prehistoric cave murals, Roman friezes and medieval manuscripts. Swiss caricaturist, schoolteacher and author Rodolphe Töpffer was the acknowledged father of the art form in the 19th century, after he published sequences of sketches in boxes, introducing the first use of speech balloons and onomatopoeia (invented words that represent sounds, such as Bam!). In 1964, French critic Claude Beylie coined the term “Ninth Art” (neuvième art), but it was not until 2009 that its cultural recognition was affirmed after the Louvre Museum dedicated an exhibition to the art form titled “The Ninth Art”.
With technological advances and digitalisation, mobile devices have transformed this medium into a vertical, serialised landscape optimised for mobile storytelling. It is within this canon of evolution that Cebu-based Olivecoat thrives with her pastel-washed panels and emotionally attuned narratives. Recognised as one of the most intriguing voices in contemporary webtoons, Olivecoat’s storytelling approach is an act of connection through the quiet universality of emotion in an era of screen addicts. Hand-drawn intimacy fuses with digital experimentation, symbolism with soft humour, and character-driven tenderness with a distinct visual language.
The Reverso Webcomic By Olivecoat charts the invention of the Reverso and follows Jean-Pierre de Trey, César de Trey, Jacques-David LeCoultre, Jeanne Pellet, and René-Alfred Chauvot across five chapters. Based on real-life events, Olivecoat draws from the rich historical legacy of the Reverso and dramatises its story with an Eastern take on a Western tale. The dynamic dialogue between two cultures, two aesthetics, and two storytelling tempos through Olivecoat’s lens as Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates the enduring allure of the iconic watch, and of the power of storytelling and narrative.
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