Jaeger-LeCoultre’s timepieces are design classics – and the watchmaker’s partnership with polo boot-maker Casa Fagliano is, rather fittingly, built to last.

Question: What does an Argentinian bootmaker and a Swiss watchmaker have in common?

Answer: They both produce exquisite products for use on the polo field. The former, Casa Fagliano, is a fifth-generation leather business that has been handcrafting polo boots on unparalleled quality from its atelier in Hurlingham, Argentina, since 1862. The latter, Jaeger-LeCoultre, is one of Switzerland’s finest watchmakers and creator of arguably the world’s first sports watch, the Reverso.

Those familiar with the elegant, Art Deco-inspired stylings of the Reverso might be surprised to hear it described as a sports watch. But it was a sport – polo, specifically – for which it was originally designed. In the winter of 1930, a group of British Army officers in India challenged a travelling Swiss businessman, Mr César De Trey, to design a watch that wouldn’t get smashed during a polo match – a recreational hazard in a sport that involves riding horses at breakneck speeds while swinging mallets.

On his return to Switzerland, Mr De Trey put this latter-day First-World problem to his friend and associate, the watchmaker Mr Jacques-David LeCoultre, who instructed his engineers to come up with a solution. Their answer? A watch housed in a stainless-steel case that could slide in its base and flip over, thereby concealing the fragile watchface and exposing the solid caseback. It was named Reverso after the Latin for “I turn around”. For Jaeger-LeCoultre, a company that has built its reputation on groundbreaking acts of horological innovation, this was revolutionary watchmaking at its simplest and most literal.

Today, thanks largely to its timeless looks, the Reverso is regarded as more of a dress watch than a sports watch, and the metal caseback that was once intended to repel blows from polo mallets is now promoted as a canvas for personal engravings. Jaeger-LeCoultre hasn’t forgotten the Reverso’s sporting roots, though. It maintains strong links to the world of polo, not only by sponsoring major events but also through collaborations with the likes of Casa Fagliano.

At a recent event hosted by renowned polo player and Jaeger-LeCoultre ambassador Ms Clare Mountbatten, the Marchioness of Milford Haven, MR PORTER was given the opportunity to sit down and chat with Mr Germán Fagliano. The fifth-generation bootmaker gave us a little insight into the history of Casa Fagliano, explaining how a small family business on the outskirts of Buenos Aires ended up working alongside one of the giants of the Swiss watchmaking world.

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So how far back does Casa Fagliano go?

We began life in 1892, so last year was our 125th anniversary. The company was co-founded by the grandfather of my grandfather, Pedro Fagliano, an Italian immigrant who arrived in Argentina in 1884.

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Did the company begin life as a maker of polo boots?

I was talking about that with my grandfather before I left for England. He was telling me, “If you get asked about how we got started with the polo boots, this is the story you have to say!”

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So, in the words of your grandfather…

Well, Hurlingham was a farming community, and in the early days Casa Fagliano specialised in boots for farm workers. One day, though, the housekeeper of an English family living in Hurlingham came to the atelier and asked us to create a copy of an English polo boot. At the time, if you needed your polo boots repaired you needed to ship them to England. It could take months.

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Presumably, Hurlingham in Buenos Aires is somehow connected to the Hurlingham Club in London...

Correct. The English built most of the railroads in Argentina, and they founded their own Hurlingham Club in Buenos Aires. The town of Hurlingham grew up around the club.

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How popular is polo in Argentina?

It’s huge. I’ve seen polo in the US and Dubai, but when you see it in Argentina, it’s different. And Hurlingham hosts one of the biggest tournaments in the country. It’s one third of the Argentine Triple Crown, along with Tortugas and Palermo. And it takes place one block from our shop.

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How many pairs of polo boots does Casa Fagliano make a year?

We make around 80 pairs of bespoke boots, starting at $5,000.

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And you’ve never been tempted to scale up?

We already struggle to make the quantities that we do! Everything is handmade and we’re not willing to let the quality drop.

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When did your partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre start?

We’ve been working together since 2011, when Jaeger-LeCoultre launched its 80th-anniversary Reverso collection. They wanted a watch strap that was made from the same leather as the world’s best polo boots.

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So, they came to you?

They came to Casa Fagliano.

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