Our Rescue of a Discarded JLC Master Geographic

[janice&fred]

hi gang,

a local pal who we have known over the years sold us this interesting watch along with a few others last month. he works in Dubai as a driver and general assistant for an Arab family. our pal spotted the watch laying face-up in a garden, picked it up and showed it to his boss. his boss said he threw it away there a few months back as the 10:00 crown fell off, and our friend can have it if he likes. our pal further asked his boss about the watch and was told there was also a hinged lid covering the see-thru sapphire case back but it never snapped down properly and was aggravating so he pulled it off many years ago. he couldn't remember if he saved it or where he would have put it. maybe in another garden?

anyways luckily there's basically no rain in that region of the middle east so the watch simply sat and baked in the searing sun for a month or two. aside from the missing crown and optional case back cover the watch didn't appear in too bad a shape. the dial and hands are perfect and the only evidence of it's extended nap in the garden is some sun scorching of the clear coat on the separate outer chapter ring. the leather strap looks to have been replaced a few times over the years as neither side matched each other but the original 18k deployment is there. the watch still ticked but we didn't want to risk running it long until it got checked over.

we had our trusty watch tech take a look at it as he is well experienced with JLC and he suggested a full disassembling, cleaning and lubing due to it's history. he gave it a complete movement service and was surprised as the original lube wasn't dried up from the heat and the movement was basically unaffected by it's extended sun bath in the garden. he also rounded up a generic unmarked crown to replace the missing 10:00 crown that controls the world time ring and secondary time zone. now everything works as new.

the 18k white gold case itself is in nice shape and cleaned up nicely with a quick rubbing of a polishing cloth. we slapped on a new black leather strap with the original deployment and it's a fun addition to our collection and a cool conversation piece with it's bizarre history.

pics when we first got the watch.





after it's service.







hope y'all enjoyed the story of our discarded JLC and have a nice weekend!

[tudorbaja27]

Nice

[Burlington]

Great story ! Thanks for sharing.

[KBM]

The guy threw away a gold piece because a crown fell off? Wow.

[janice&fred]

Originally Posted by kauebm

The guy threw away a gold piece because a crown fell off? Wow.

could be some well-off people from that region of the world don't trifle themselves over such minor things?

our pal told us many there do the same with cars as well.

[77T]

Good rescue.
Any plans to source a replacement back cover for the missing one?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[janice&fred]

Originally Posted by 77T

Good rescue.
Any plans to source a replacement back cover for the missing one?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

when we originally got the watch we thought of that but once we started learning more about the geographic model versions by looking online we seen that most simply have a see-thru back without the additional lid so it really doesn't matter much to us. the existing hinge tabs on the back are semi-counter sunk and not at all noticeable when worn so we are not tempted to remove them altho it would be quite easy. i suppose if we wanted we could send the thing to JLC for an original 10:00 crown and see if they can come up with a replacement back cover but surely that route would be costly and kind of diminish the as-found fun history of the watch. interestingly the inside of the see-thru back has a factory stamp with what appears to be the name of the JLC watch tech/assembler and exact date of it's assembly.

[77T]

I certainly agree - no need to add cost to an essentially "free" find!

[janice&fred]

Originally Posted by 77T

I certainly agree - no need to add cost to an essentially "free" find!

thanks for your compliments. i will round up some pics of the inside case back and stampings as could be many fellow members that own geographics may not have seen the inside of their case backs thus not aware of the cool factory name and date stampings that make their watch unique.

[KBM]

Originally Posted by janice&fred

could be some well-off people from that region of the world don't trifle themselves over such minor things?



our pal told us many there do the same with cars as well.

Yes, surreal as it sounds, I don't doubt that. It's great that you were able to restore the watch are showing it some love after what's happened to it. Enjoy that wonderful piece!

[EdwardC]

Happy for the watch for finding a new life

[GoingPlaces]

That's what it's all about. Well done!