Hi OF, For sale is my Jaeger-LeCoultre military watch, issued to the Australian army circa 1940s. Dial: 100% original dial with perfect pumpkin patina on the radium plots, all original hands, beautifully aged radium on the cathedral hands. Case: 100% original finish chrome plated, which is correct for JLC WWW. Very minimal brass showing. Best condition case I've seen so far, and I've owned 3 of these watches in the past. Case is unpolished. Movement: Jaeger cal 479 movement with no service history, which has 15 jewels (the majority of which are held in chatons), with Geneva stripes and gilt finish. The watch measures 35mm excluding crown. It is much better in real life and has character as you would expect of a 1940s military watch. Movement is in good running condition, beautiful uniformly coloured Geneva stripes. Australian and British cases are different, the Australian examples seen have spring bars and the British version has fixed bars. The original finish on the Australian ones seems to be shiny, and the original finish on the British ones is matte. The lugs on the Australian one seem to be slimmer than the British version. The heavy case has a slim bezel and a glass that screws in from the back to provide a dustproof seal. The caseback is numbered 293xxx and like all the Australian issue WWW watches, does not have the WWW caseback markings. I have also include a photo of a page from the JLC book by Zaf Basha regarding JLC WWW that shows the Australian specification. I got my first Australian JLC from our honourable military watch collector @RCAFBuster and he told me that there were only 2,000 of these watches issued to the Australian army. Serial range from 2930xx to 2948xx. This is my third Australian JLC, and even with around a dozen or so more of these watches that I've documented in my database, this watch in particular, is the best example that I have seen so far. I have also left in the same condition as I found it, because for me, this is a truly honest piece of military history. 100% original dial, hands, crown, and even the glass that has some scuff marks and crazing due to the radium dust. As per my description above, the glass is screws in from the back to provide a dustproof seal, so the glass can't simply be replaced by a random glass. I'm obviously more than happy to get my watchmaker to replace the glass as he has a couple in stock, and include the old glass with the purchase if the buyer wishes to do so. The watch is sold as is head only, no box or papers. Priced at USD3,500 + shipping. Paypal or bank wire only. Thanks heaps Andre
Finally back from my 4 weeks vacation, let’s move this watch! Here are a couple of wristshots of the watch with the Phoenix NATO for those who were wondering!