To me, I consider JLC a top tier brand that's mostly competing in a tier below. I think most here would agree that ap, pp, vc, lange and breguet are top tier. In terms of history, innovation and technical competency, I think anyone familiar with JLC would agree they are as good if not superior to the top tier brands. As someone mentioned a few posts back, JLC is often referred to as the watch maker's watchmaker due to their technical prowess. The main reason JLC is often considered a tier below is because they sell a lot of cheaper watches, with Stainless Steel and less decorated movements.
Price wise, excluding the top end JLC watches, they mostly compete with the tier below with brands like zenith, glasshute original, iwc, etc. In my mind, JLC is clearly at the top of this tier.
There is more to JLC then just the reversos. They are probably among the most innovative watch manufacturers in modern times along side seiko. Over 1200 calibres, smallest mechanical movement, thinnest mechanical watch, most complicated wrist watch (overthrown by Frank Muller), mechanical clock that requires no human interaction to run and gets it's energy from changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure, etc.
