A new JLC for me

[nrhiture]

A long time ago I discovered a 60’s “LeCoultre” Futurematic, it turned out to be my first eBay bid and purchase. The second vintage watch on my long journey with mechanical watches. I loved the style, power indicator, and most importantly, the bumper movement. It seemed like such a delicate watch, but it being 25ish years old at the time, it was reliable and ran very well, the deception hides a solid and well built watch. I loved it but eventually sold it for the next watch, a vintage Breitling, not realizing how much I would miss it over the years. Like many it’s “the one that got away” in my collection.
Over the years I’ve come back to JLC thinking I’d like to add an iconic Reverso but when I’ve tried them on ready to buy I just never feel the excitement and connection needed to pull the trigger. Still, all respect to that model, it’s a beautiful and amazing reference, just not for me I guess.

This past year I set my sights on a dressier watch, after several years of acquiring sport bracelet watches, following a lot of hype watches like we all have. Something that fit the business casual, networking events, and Sunday dress, side of my life. Omega, IWC, Moser, Glashutte Original, and of course JLC were all on the list. I looked at great references from all, tried on many, but after considerable thought and evaluation of what was being offered when compared to value I focused in on a few from JLC in the Master Ultra Thin and Master Control collections. Then narrowing down to the Geographic and Calendar references and finally settling in on the Calendar.

Why did I go with this particular JLC? Well, to say it’s perfect would be a lie, many of us enthusiasts would admit that perfect doesn’t exist, the differences and compromises of what we acquire versus leave behind is balanced in what we want at the time. For my curated collection a complete calendar watch is the perfect addition. The whiteness of the dial, glimmer of the silver arrow and Arabic numeral indices, day and month close together (opposed to earlier versions), the delicate seconds hand over the deep blue sky on the moon phase, and case polished in all the right places, make this a watch that I love looking at. The truly spectacular aspect of this watch is the jumping date, a complication I don’t stay up to witness but love to have.

With two very different straps, it looks wonderful on both and fits the casual and dressier side I was hoping for. The movement is robust and amazing to look at. It contributes to the voodoo that JLC seems to possess by making delicate generational watches without feeling heavy or combat ready.





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[WatchEater666]

Looks great, I like the clean design and moonphase. A blue suede strap might look good too for casual wear.

[BraveBold]

Beautiful!

[Enzo954]

Beautiful! Love JLC.

[ThatOtherGuy7]

Fantastic JLC - congratulations! Wear it well!

[djona]

Congrats, it looks great! Would love this on a grey or navy calf skin strap.

[scarlet knight]

Very nice! I used to own a MUT Moon.

[1William]

Great looking watch.

[brandrea]

That’s beautiful, congratulations

[Colorado_kid]

That’s such a great piece, congratulations!


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[AEC]

Love that!

[BNA/LION]

Congratulations!

[RW16610]

Congratulations!

[Yoda_Eating_Pizza]

Congrats on the MC Calendar
I love that 15-16 jumping date. This was one of the watches I was considering when shopping for a JLC.

[sah]

Beautiful. Your detailed description was a joy to read. If I ever needed to dress up, that JLC would be what I would want to wear.

[Jerrocop]

Such a great looking watch. How weather/water resistant is the calfskin strap? Though about getting it and then treating it with beeswax but not sure if that would ruin it or not.

[ian.thomas]

Lovely!

[AEC]

Originally Posted by Jerrocop

Such a great looking watch. How weather/water resistant is the calfskin strap? Though about getting it and then treating it with beeswax but not sure if that would ruin it or not.

If you like the look then I recommend giving the strap a try. I maintain mine with premium shoe care products (maybe once per year) and it responds the way premium shoe leather would, meaning it cleans up nicely and shines a little bit. The color does darken over time, but that doesn't correspond directly to cleaning/conditioning, it just happens gradually over time with use. I think if you use something to bolster water resistance then you'll get a good result, but I just use Saphir Renovateur on mine and I generally keep it out of the rain.

I also have the correct JLC strap in black alligator for this watch, and it looks good on that strap, but I really love the original one in brown and wear the watch that way nearly all of the time