Jaeger LeCoultre

M
Posts
114
Likes
106
Hi Everyone,

My Dad bought this small white gold dress watch on Ebay in the early 2000's. He recently passed away at 87 and my mom wants to start wearing it as her everyday watch. Right now it stops after 5 or 6 hours so I took it in for service for her. My local dealer that carries JLC said that they can't get parts for models this old so it is being sent to a JLC facility in Texas and might eventually need to go all the way back to Switzerland. They might even have to custom-make some replacement parts if they are needed. Hopefully it is something simple like old lubricants that have gotten gummy and after a cleaning and re-lubing it will run flawlessly.

Has anyone seen anything like it? The workmanship is absolutely stunning in person. I know no one in this forum likes to discuss dollar values so that isn't what 'm looking for but I'd love more information on the model (name, reference number, approximate year of production, anything really.)

It would also be helpful to get an idea of what dollar amount (in US Dollars) it stops making sense to repair if the estimate comes back extremely high. Google didn't turn up any similar models. The original Ebay listing states it has a Vacheron Constantin movement and is from the 1950's. Is a VC movement in a Jaeger LeCoultre odd to anyone? Asking because it's usually the other way around JLC providing movements to others instead of them using other people's movements.

Let the flood gates of information open.
 
336188796_251742127190254_8949658411861638154_n.jpg 336649433_1449840265807339_1060857795875860621_n.jpg 336186840_671512081405924_6019738324040475132_n.jpg
gatorcpa
Posts
13,095
Likes
17,950
Yes, I’ve seen this style of watch before. Probably from late 1950’s or early 1960’s. I don’t know the model name offhand, but you may be able to do a reverse Google search for pictures somewhere on the web.

Here’s what I can tell you.

1. The watch probably has a cal. 818 movement or something very similar. Should look like this:

upload_2023-3-22_15-59-38.jpeg


2. The case was made in the US by a licensed supplier to Jaeger-LeCoultre (called just LeCoultre in the US).

3. The watch dial has been re-painted and probably was not black to begin with. This was very common with these dress watches, as they’re not waterproof at all and dials tended to degrade over time.

4. Your eBay seller had it backwards. It was JLC who supplied some movements to Vacheron-Constantin. V&C would add a few tweaks of their own. Not the other way around. The confusion comes from the US import mark of “VXN”, which was assigned to LeCoultre, as they shared a U.S. distributor with V&C in those days.

5. The Texas facility will almost certainly not be able to service this watch and they will send it to Switzerland. The servicing cost by JLC Switzerland is going to be eye-wateringly high. Probably $1,500 to $2,000 or more.

Unless the watch has some extreme sentimental value, the JLC service is not going to make much sense. Better to find an independent watchmaker in your area familiar with vintage watches. JLC used to have a very developed network of parts distributors and some parts can still be had in original envelopes (for a price). Others are made of unobtainium. It just depends what you need.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa
 
Sign up or log in to reply...