Does this look original ?

[marcusjames]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Like the look but not sure how original it is.

[LukeBird]

I had a look at this the other day...
The movement doesn't look right to me, normally JLCs of that era tend to have slightly prettier movements.
There is something about it that doesn't feel 'right' to me though, I just can't put my finger on it!

[RichB]

Well the face and movement are marked Jaeger LeCoultre yet the inside of the back cover is marked LeCoultre. JLCs were marketed as LeCoultre in the USA. Could it be a "bitza" made up of various parts?

[andy_s]

It looks genuine, as in genuine JLC; they go for about the price it's on at the moment. I'd be inclined to think it's later than 1930's, it seems to share the same movement as the 40's watches. I'd say to forget the military association (although the engravings on the back of the case seem to suggest something unusual but I can't make them out too well) unless the buyer has something more concrete.

The 'C' is a small style 'c' and it's marked 'Jaeger leCoultre' rather than 'LeCoultre' (an indicator it may be later than 30's), the crown is not original as far as I can tell. (There's a strange line like a crack through the movement...?)

You'd need to get someone who knows more about them to help with the calibre and age (I think early forties, 463/9 calibre but could be miles out).

[LukeBird]

RichB said:

Could it be a "bitza" made up of various parts?

Yeah, I reckon it's a Franken.
Given how many different variations on watches there were available back then, it would be very difficult to confirm whether it was an original or not.

[RichB]

andy_s said:

The 'C' is a small style 'c' and it's marked 'Jaeger leCoultre' rather than 'LeCoultre'

My point was that the inside back cover is marked LeCoultre.

[andy_s]

RichB said:

andy_s said:

The 'C' is a small style 'c' and it's marked 'Jaeger leCoultre' rather than 'LeCoultre'

My point was that the inside back cover is marked LeCoultre.

Yes, I saw that after I'd posted - I meant there are different styles of writing JLC on the dial. These pictures are the same type of watch - note the LC marked case back and JLC marked dial/movement:

[andy_s]

Ignore the hands, see what I mean about the 'Jaeger LeCoultre' writing? (There is no 'SWISS' at 6 o'clock either, the owner thinks it's a German issue watch that never gets talked about at JLC because at the same time they were supplying the Allies with their WWW version, which is similar to the eBay watch but with a cleaner subdial).

ETA - note the crown as well - the eBay one's crown I can't identify but I don't think it's original.


I could be wrong, completely wrong and the seller correct, but a bit more info from him would be needed before splashing out on the grand or three that a WWW would go for, for me at least.

Edited by andy_s on Tuesday 26th October 23:13