Is that the same company that made the Atmos clocks that never need winding?
Oh and are you saying the seconds hand no longer moves? I see it in the same location in both photos.
Yes, the same company.
It’s a coincidence that the seconds hand is in the same position. I never noticed that in these two photos.
The story: this vendor at a hamfest had a whole table full of mostly cheap quartz watches. His business model seemed to be buying them unworking for a buck or two, putting a battery in them, and then selling them to cheapskate hams for ten bucks or so. He had an area reserved for better brands with higher prices, and a small glass case for watches he thought were fancier, including mechanical watches. This JLC and a 1970 Bulova were in that case. I focused my attention on the Bulova as a distraction, but then with a shrug asked to see “that other one”.
The case is in two parts, a main ring and bezel as one part (that holds the crystal and movement) plus a snap back. There were no marks on the outside of the case, but there were clues:
1) It had a gold-colored back. Swiss watches that are plated have stainless steel backs, and this was true even in 1946.
2) It read “Jaeger LeCoultre” on the dial. Even though Jaeger had merged with LeCoultre in 1938, Jaeger sounded too German for the American market during and after WWII, and their watches were simply branded “LeCoultre” when imported by Wittnauer, right up to the 70’s.
Those two clues told me it was a solid gold case made for the Swiss home market.
But the caseback was not fitting correctly on the ring. He kept trying to snap it home by pressing the crystal and back between thumb and forefinger, but those two parts were already touching inside the ring of the main case and it had no effect. But in diddling with it, the caseback came loose. I said, “well as long as it is off I might as well see the movement”.
Three more observations resulted:
3) The inside of the back showed Swiss hallmarks for 18K (0.750) gold and the responsibility mark for LeCoultre. Yes, I know what those marks look like.
4) The movement was clearly a LeCoultre P450C. The P stands for the Parachoc shock-resistant system, which was KIF’s early competition to Incabloc. KIF was and still is preferred over Incabloc by the high-end brands. By early, I mean the 40’s.
5) The movement had a big gear on the back driving a tiny pinion in the center. This is called an indirectly driven sweep (center) seconds hand, an innovative feature in the mid-40’s. The flat spring damps jitter. (Now, central seconds is achieved by centrally positioning the fourth wheel).
So, by that time I knew it was authentic, gold, and made in the 40’s.
I asked him how old he thought it was, and he said “60’s, judging from the band.” Heh.
“I dunno. Seems like a lot for a 60’s watch with a damaged case.” Which it would have been if it was a lesser brand.
Then, I thanked him and walked away. My wife, the official family negotiator, read my patter and went back later and wrangled the poor guy down for both the JLC and the Bulova.
My plausible speculative history is that an American soldier, stationed in Germany during the post-war occupation, nipped down to Switzerland and bought the watch as a souvenir. It would have retailed at $300 in the US when new, so it was a nice souvenir. Europe was desperate for cash and discounts abounded. He brought his souvenir home and wore it for a couple of decades—long enough to put a Speidel band on it—but then dropped it and the case came apart and seconds hand fell off and was lost. It eventually ended up in the guy’s estate and was probably bought for pennies by our vendor.
I found the seconds hand by looking up the part number for that central pinion, and then cataloguing what other LeCoultre movements used it. Miraculously, one came up for a compatible movement on eBay within a couple of weeks. It was a NOS replacement blued steel seconds hand still in the paper JLC envelope. I paid fifty bucks for that seconds hand
(I had installed it on the watch before removing the old bracelet in the first picture. I had cleaned the watch by then, too.)
It runs perfectly.
Rick “vintage watch collecting does require some study” Denney
