His all, I've been collecting JLC's for a few since i was gifted one by my granny. I'm interested mostly n the 40's and 50's period. I'm trying to get one of each of the major movements. Anyway's I pulled the trigger on this curio as it was going cheap but it's a still bit of a gamble based on what I see. The case and dial style (with the most curious squinty JL logo ) date it around 48-53...but the movement (haven't got the cal yet) looks comparatively cheap and I can't find any info on a 25 jewel date automatic. The only reference to 25 jewels is when Lecoultre turned to A Schild in the early 70's for assistance in the Quartz crisis using their movements (17 and 25 jewels) in their entry level club series....but it doesn't look that much like the 17 jewel versions I can find on google (can't find a 25 jewel). ..and then there's the curious logo and watch back. I'm fairly certain it's not a fake as there are too many signs to indicate age and only later JLCs were generally copied. Is it a Frankenwatch ? Might I have stumbled upon some early version of the geophysic? Thanks for any and all feedback. Mike
It's weird that the logo and "automatic" would stand so well the test of time when the rest of the indexes would fade so strongly
Bingo. @chipsotoole - what made you bid on this? If you have a link to the auction, I'd love to see it.
I originally suspected the indexes might have possibly been removed for their gold value. It certainly seems to be a lot of trouble for an out and out fake and pretty old to boot. As far as I know , most JLC replicas tend to be more recent and of higher end watches. It was certainly advertised as genuine JLC. I must admit the case is what originally attracted me..it is exactly the same as a small 1948 French JLC I have which is at the repair shop to replace a lug.I've got an early wrist alarm, a powermatic and a ref E329 automatic also in my collection ... I'm on the fence. It seems it's more a Franken than an out and out fake.....Once I've inspected it more closely I'll report back.
Do you have a 1948 JLC with that caseback? The overall case shape, while not the most common, isn't unusual and isn't a JLC-only thing. This particular watch has no relation at all to JLC.
I examined it closely externally and internally : the movement really was not particularly bad..but then again not particularly (JLC standard) good either...It might have possibly been one out of the club era when they went out house but it didn't quite matchup to the photos I could find online. . The rest was as others said out and out fake. Watch returned , Seller who was selling on behalf of someone else fully refunded me. Despite him being an semi-pro antiques dealer I couldn't really hold it against him. All's well that ends well. I will however be looking at vintage JLC's more closely in the future. I really didn't expect that copyists went that far back in time (I'm guessing early 70's) and for such relatively unremarkable model. Lesson learned.
That's because the movement was as fake as the rest of the watch. You were lucky you could get out of the deal. gatorcpa P.S. - The early 1970's were the "golden age" of counterfeit watches. Please read this. They faked almost all of brands and JLC was pretty well known back then.