I fell in love with this watch the second I put it on my wrist. Images formed in my head of how I could dash out with it undetected by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchful eyes. It takes a really nice watch to conjure up images of grand larceny in your head. I let them keep the timepiece, but thoughts of it stayed in my mind. I really need to own one of these someday. Before you is the Palmero Open version of the Reverso Squadra watch. There are other versions of the piece of course that aren’t limited editions like this (gold is limited to 500 pieces, while the steel is not limited). Unlike some of the dual faced versions of the watches (where you flip around the face to display another face on the rear), this version style gives you a view of the movement through a sapphire caseback window.

There are enough differences between the Palmero Open (Palmero) to treat this as a different watch as opposed to just rebranded Reverso Squadra for some sporting event. What is the Palmero Open even? Tennis or golf something? I don’t quite care, but the Palmero name sounds catchy. Oh wait, I just checked. Get this, the Palmero Open is some Argentinian Polo match – imagine that. Makes sense with a polo themed watch right? The case is a great size. The standard Reverso (even the larger version) is too small for me. The Squadra is still rectangular, but the dial is much more square. Size is 34.9mm wide by 50mm tall. Nice for this style of watch. You can see how good it looks on the wrist. The top and bottom of the case have angled in lugs for a clean look. The black parts of the case are coated with vulcanized rubber and there is exposed metal with horizontal line texturing on the top and bottom of the case as well as metal around the dial. I love the angular chronograph pusher and crown that go with the look. As I mentioned before, the watch comes in 18 pink gold as well as in steel. The gold version is limited to 500 pieces.

Jaeger’s application of the rubber is really nicely done (and sporty!) It further protects the case a bit and has a soft feel to it.  I put an image of the standard  Reverso Squadra watch for you to compare the look. All the angularity of the look is carried over the case with the chronograph subdial and layout of the Arabic numeral hour markers. More horizontal line texturing in the middle of the dial work in tune with the top and bottom of the case front. The hands are probably what you would call baton hands, and look perfect with the look. All the dial really needs for super sportiness is luminant, which this style lacks, but makes up for in sexy looks.

Inside the watch is Jaeger-LeCoultre in-house made Caliber 754 automatic movement. It has the time, big date (at 12 o’clock), second  timezone in GMT format (lower subdial) and a 12 hour chronograph. There are no seconds for the time. It further has a 65 hours of power reserve. You can see the movement when you “reseve” the case. Yea, it is still called “Reverso” for a reason. You never see images of how the case looks when it is opened or flipped around. So I made sure to take images of that for you. Bascially you just pull up on one side of the case, it snaps our being secured by two spring loaded ball bearings, then slide it over and turn it around and lock it back in. Pretty elegant and simple system. The case housing has some nice perlage polish on it (that looks so good in gold). Through the caseback sapphire window you can check out the movement. It has got some really nice decoration and finish. It reminds of me IWC, but then again IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre are sort of sister brands (both under Richemont), so that makes sense. They will get upset with me however if I don’t mention that they are totally separate companies that do their “own thing.”

Strap on the watch is a fabric style with a nice lining that matches the sport them of the timepiece. I like it better than the rubber of the standard Reverso Squadra. The Reverso Squadra Palmero is a real kick-ass timepiece with a solid movement, great looks, and a heritage that will keep people who know about watches envious. Top choice is in gold as it looks great with the black, but both are pieces worth lusting over and saving up for. Price is $10,950 in steel and $21,550 in rose gold.