Lenny Kravitz on His Love of Watches, Touring With Bob Dylan and Working With Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jaeger-LeCoultre marked the American debut of “The Reverso Stories” exhibition Wednesday night with an intimate chat with house ambassador — and well-known watch collector — Lenny Kravitz.
“It started when I was about five,” Kravitz said of his love for watches in the conversation, which was held with Ben Clymer, founder and executive chairman of Hodinkee. The rock star was dressed in all black, pointed boots, a dazzling necklace — ostensibly of diamonds — and a new Reverso timepiece not yet available to the public.
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“I was just attracted to these instruments,” he said of a group of watches his dad, a journalist, brought home from an assignment in Vietnam. He recalled that even though he knew he wasn’t to play with them, he did, of course. ”I was just fascinated,” he said. And a bona fide watch guy was born.
“I have always been attracted to these watches but never owned one,” he said of his feelings for the brand and the Reverso before he was asked to work with JLC (as it’s known among watch aficionados). “I had my eye on one because it’s one of those pieces of design that I think is iconic. Classic.”
Kravitz told a mix of stories, wowing the crowd with a few tales of meeting and touring with Bob Dylan and hanging with Tom Petty and Mick Jagger throughout his life. “It’s a beautiful thing to live your life and meet your heroes and end up having a relationship with them,” he said.
Along with timepieces, the Grammy award-winner is an avid collector of many things. “I love beautiful design, whatever it might be,” he explained, listing automobiles and instruments as other parts of his collection.
“It’s a classic piece,” he said, as the conversation turned back to the Swiss timepiece brand’s iconic watches. “It’s a pure design, pure classic and it will never go out of style. And for me, you know, the fact that it can really bridge the gap between elegance, simplicity, but then also have an edge. So, for me, the way I dress — which can be, you know, in lots of different ways — it fits any side of my character. And you just can’t find that with a lot of watches.”
Global ambassadors Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult were among those who enjoyed the celebration, as well as model Maya Stepper, actor Aldis Hodge, DJ Brendan Fallis, actor Eric Rutherford and more who took in the exhibition. Created by Jaeger-LeCoultre to mark the anniversary of the Reverso and as part of its mission to expand the cultural conversation around design and watchmaking, “Reverso Stories” offers visitors an immersion into the creative and cultural universe of the icon of watch design through more than 90 years since its birth in 1931.
In tribute to the origins of the Reverso at the height of the Prohibition era, and to its Art Deco design, the 1931 Café was transformed into a speakeasy for the evening, with music by DJ Isaac Likes. Also present were Korean artist Yiyun Kang and “World’s Best Pastry Chef” Nina Métayer, both of whom created projects for the exhibition under Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Made of Makers program — a series of artistic partnerships that expands the dialogue between watchmaking and other art forms.
“The ‘Reverso Stories Exhibition’ is an experiential and inclusive journey in the wonders of watchmaking and art and it’s a tribute to the Art Deco period and the iconic Reverso born in 1931,” said Jaeger-LeCoultre chief executive officer Catherine Rénier. “Being in New York City to celebrate that creative time means a lot for Jaeger-LeCoultre.”
“Reverso Stories” is free and runs until Nov. 22 at Iron23 at 29 West 23rd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
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