At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the latest collaboration in its Made of Makers programme, an experimental gastronomic exploration of chocolate in partnership with Chef Chocolatier Mathieu Davoine. This creative venture pays tribute to the origins of the iconic Reverso watch through an imaginative and sensory dessert experience.
The Made of Makers initiative continues to build connections between horology and the broader artistic world, fostering partnerships with creatives from disciplines beyond watchmaking who embody the Maison’s core values: creativity, expertise, and precision. The programme challenges the notion of classical arts as static or solely historical, instead presenting them as dynamic, evolving forms that continue to inspire. Emphasising the reinvention of traditional techniques through contemporary materials and media, Made of Makers encourages a dialogue between past and present. Like the artisans of La Grande Maison, participating artists respect heritage as a springboard for innovation, revealing how both watchmaking and classical arts reflect culture, provoke emotion, and celebrate human ingenuity.
Over the years, Made of Makers has included figures from contemporary visual art, gastronomy, music, and perfumery. The programme’s diverse roster includes Swiss sound artist Zimoun, American perceptual artist Michael Murphy, French light artist Guillaume Marmin, Spanish American lettering artist Alex Trochut, French pastry chef Nina Métayer, French mixologist Matthias Giroud, Korean digital media artist Yiyun Kang, British musician TØKIO M¥ERS, American multimedia artist Brendi Wedinger, Indian chef Himanshu Saini, Chinese light painter Roy Wang, French perfumer Nicolas Bonneville, and Emirati designer Khalid Shafar. With the addition of Mathieu Davoine, the programme now embraces the intricate art of chocolaterie.
This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre invites guests to engage in a multisensory tasting experience created by Geneva-based chef chocolatier Mathieu Davoine. Known for blending traditional craftsmanship with avant-garde techniques, Davoine’s approach to chocolate is both artistic and experimental. Drawing inspiration from art, nature, and his own culinary laboratory, he treats chocolate as both a sculptural medium and a vehicle for inventive flavour combinations.
Davoine views chocolate as an unparalleled ingredient for creative exploration. Its capacity to transform into various textures, from powder to foam, jelly to crunch, makes it ideal for experimentation. He explains, “I cannot think of any other single ingredient that offers so much artistic possibility.” His exclusive creations for Jaeger-LeCoultre challenge expectations, exploring the boundaries of taste and presentation.
The collection of four chocolate creations offered at the 1931 Café encapsulates Davoine’s signature fusion of visual artistry and complex flavour design.
PRALINE, TRUFFLE, FUDGE: A study in texture, this trio showcases chocolate in multiple forms, blending the familiar with the unexpected to create a dynamic tasting experience.
OLIVE, MUSHROOM, POLLEN: Unusual flavour combinations push the boundaries of chocolate gastronomy, balancing earthy and floral notes in a sophisticated interplay of taste and aroma.
MICRO BALLS, SCULPTURES, TROMPE-L’OEIL: Trompe-l’œil techniques are employed to surprise the eye, using illusion, form, and surface detail to heighten the visual and tactile experience of each bite.
Each creation also reflects elements of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s heritage. The visual design draws on the world of polo, a homage to the Reverso’s sporting origins, while ingredients sourced from the Vallée de Joux connect the creations to the brand’s home region.
The four featured delights include:
Harmonie de Chocolat: A dynamic chocolate sablé topped with dark chocolate mousse and cacao pearls, finished with hazelnut-sprinkled milk chocolate ganache. Its swirling form evokes the movement of polo players and horses.
Galop des Bois: Crisp praline, airy mousse, and sponge cake form a polo ball encircled by Jaeger-LeCoultre’s name in dark chocolate. The flavour profile combines white chocolate, vanilla, forest fruits, hazelnuts, and porcini mushrooms from the Vallée de Joux.
Éclat de Caviar: Chocolate caviar pearls with a shiny shell reveal olive tapenade, chocolate cream, and biscuit within. Presented in a tin reminiscent of polo boot polish, this piece combines black olives with fir shoot infusion.
Douceur du Cavalier: A refined take on the traditional petit écolier, this biscuit incorporates pollen from the Vallée de Joux, topped with ganache and meadowsweet jelly, all enrobed in milk chocolate.
Guests are invited to personalise their tasting by adjusting the dosage of Vallée de Joux ingredients in each dessert. To complete the experience, Davoine has crafted a beverage made from the mucilage or pulp of the cacao pod. With a mild, tangy tropical flavour, it serves as a palate cleanser between bites and offers an additional dimension to the chocolate journey.
This collaboration underscores Jaeger-LeCoultre’s commitment to blending tradition with innovation, honouring craftsmanship through unexpected and refined sensory expressions.