A week before I met Lenny Kravitz, I saw him in Los Angeles. Looming above Sunset Boulevard, 80 feet tall, decked out in all black, and wearing a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. Referred to by the heads as “The watchmaker of watchmakers,” Jaeger-LeCoultre is known for its glamorous global ambassadors. But seeing the larger-than-life Kravitz don the mantle – as I drove by Hollywood’s legendary rock clubs and into Beverly Hills – the partnership between the storied 190+ -year-old maison and the ineffably suave rocker, it struck me that a certain edge had just entered the equation.
Back in New York, I mentioned this to Kravitz, and he echoed the sentiment as he prepared for a night full of festivities celebrating Jaeger-LeCoultre’s traveling “Reverso Stories” exhibition. “The watch rides well between classic elegance and the streetsmart edge of rock and roll,” said Kravitz with a smile, dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. “It works for both sides of me.”
He is a Gemini, after all, and I like to think of the Reverso as the Gemini of the watch world. To the uninitiated: this duo-faced timepiece was created in 1931 to withstand rigorous polo matches. With its ingenious swiveling case, players could slip the watch out of its socket and literally “reverse” it to face inward, thereby protecting it with a smooth, durable piece of steel. Its form followed function, rather than any effort on behalf of the watchmakers to be different or impactful. In other words, the Reverso has never tried too hard, which resonates with Kravitz. “I think that’s what's beautiful about the watch,” he continued. “It was needed for a purpose and has evolved naturally. When we don’t try too hard – when we allow things to just be – that’s what it’s all about.”
This philosophy has carried Kravitz throughout his career. On top of 11 studio albums and four GRAMMY awards (and a career in design, acting, and photography), the CFDA presented him with its ‘Fashion Icon Award’ last year, validating just how transcendent his impact has been. The word “icon” is thrown about these days, but Kravitz is it. During a discussion panel celebrating the Reverso (another certified icon), he recounted a time before everyone knew his name. “I was at a music festival and Bob Dylan came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you’re that Black Jewish kid, right?’” And, over a glass of bourbon, wearing only his underwear as an assistant ironed his pants in the dressing room, Dylan invited Kravitz to open for him on tour. The two remain friends, and recently caught up during a rainy walk in Paris. “It’s a beautiful thing to live your life and meet your heroes,” said Kravitz, musing on life’s funny magic, and rather humbly referring to the artists who toured with him early on in his career — like Dylan, David Bowie, and Tom Petty, to name a few.
Now, Lenny Kravitz stands on the same plane as his own heroes and is one himself to many others. He’s careful to note that respect is essential to any working relationship, whether it be with a fellow artist or a brand. If you don’t respect the person or the brand, don’t collaborate. “I would never do anything just to do it,” said Kravitz. “The admiration has to be there. I have to be passionate about it.” And this absolutely applies to Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Kravitz’s passion for watches, incidentally, began early. His filmmaker and journalist father, Sy Kravitz, had returned home to New York after an assignment covering the Vietnam War. On his shelf he placed two things that the curious, young Lenny Kravitz had never seen before: a Leica camera (with whom Kravitz now also works professionally), and a chronograph watch.
He wasn’t allowed to play with them, but he did anyway. “I must have been five or six years old, and I learned that if I hit the button on the watch, the hand would go around,” Kravitz said, explaining the stopwatch function of the chronograph. “And I was just fascinated by it – the look of it, the feel of it, the sound of it.”
Coincidentally (or not, in Kravitz’s world, where the stars always seem to align), the watch he wore in the billboard high above Sunset Boulevard was also a chronograph, which he makes his own with his signature boho-rockstar style. During our interview (his oversized scarf nowhere to be seen, despite the chilly autumnal weather), he was ever-glam in a sleeveless vest (likely YSL, with whom he also works), flaunting his tatted arms and a Reverso tourbillon. It’s striking how well the watch suits him, and yet, considering its heritage, not unexpected. Pay a visit to the Reverso Stories exhibit and you’ll see that it’s been admired and worn by everyone from polo players to Indian empresses, college boys at Eton to Jay-Z.
“This 90 year old watch has renewed itself over and over again, moving with the times,” says Catherine Rénier, the CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “The Reverso is versatile; it knows how to be cool. And Lenny Kravitz pays tribute to that with his fashion sense and his way. He gives it a rock and roll dimension, which the Reverso deserves.”
