What You Are Looking At

This is a replica of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds, reference Q397848J, in stainless steel with a blue dial. The case is a 45.6 x 27.4 mm rectangle, 8.5 mm thick on the original, and carries one dial: the reverse face is blank, so this is not a Duoface. Applied baton markers, no Arabic numerals, thin light hands, a recessed small seconds counter at 6 o’clock. These cases are 316L stainless, not the 904L some listings claim.

The Flip, Step by Step

Hold the outer frame, push the inner case out from the 6 o’clock end, swing it 180 degrees and press it back. Done right it ends in one short, dry click: the inner case locks rather than settles. Then try to rock the locked case sideways. A Tier 1 JLC Reverso replica gives nothing. A weak one feels mushy, shows lateral movement while locked, or never fully locks, and wobbles in position so you see movement when you flex your wrist.

Case height is the check that needs no tools: the original is 8.5 mm and a careful build stays within half a millimetre, while cheap versions reach 11-13 mm and look inflated from the side. Seating counts too — the inner case should sit flush, with even gaps down both long edges.

Winding and Running

Movement: clone Cal. 822/2, manual-wind, 21,600 vph. Power reserve: 40 hours (genuine Cal. 822/2: 42 hours). Nothing winds itself here: you turn the crown, and a full wind carries about 40 hours before the small seconds stops. The caliber is shaped to the case instead of round, so the seconds counter sits dead centre at 6 o’clock inside a case 27.4 mm wide, and no rotor adds height to an 8.5 mm profile. At 21,600 vph the seconds hand steps six times a second, close to a sweep. A hand that jumps once a second is quartz; a round automatic such as a DG2813 is the other cheap substitute.

Rose gold gives this same blue sunray dial a warmer reading, and that version, along with the silvered and black faces, sits one page away among the Reverso Tribute listings. The flip test and the 8.5 mm height check are two of several grading points; how we grade JLC super clones runs through the rest.

Specifications

• Model: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds
• Reference: Q397848J (family Q3978480)
• Case material: stainless steel
• Case size: 45.6 x 27.4 mm
• Case thickness: 8.5 mm (original)
• Dial: blue, sunray brushed
• Markers: applied batons, no Arabic numerals
• Display: hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o’clock
• Movement: clone Cal. 822/2, manual-wind, 21,600 vph
• Power reserve: 40 hours (genuine Cal. 822/2: 42 hours)
• Crystal: sapphire, anti-reflective coated
• Water resistance: 30 m (same as genuine)
• Strap: blue smooth leather
• SKU: JLC-46

Blue Dial in Steel

Steel throws cool reflections across the dial, so the sunray blue holds one register: near navy in the shadow of the frame, bright mid-blue where the brushing catches light, with the pale batons at full contrast. The same blue dial in rose gold reads warmer: reflections off the case and the gold markers soften that contrast and pull the blue towards a plum tone off-axis. The steel build is the colder of the two, and the blue leather strap holds that reading. Tilt the watch and the blue should move. On a Reverso super clone the sunray is layered; colour identical from every angle is flat paint.