Gübelin Ipso Vox

ufdlim · Apr 9, 2020

Hey! Pretty new here and into mechanical watches in general. It's weird that in just two years I've progressed from a Seiko 5 to vintage Grand and King Seikos and now a vintage Seamaster and this Gübelin Ipso Vox. I think I'll finalize my collection with a Futurematic next. I'll need to learn to stop...

I've been in the market for a Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox for a while after selling my Seikos. The problem has always been the competition for ones in decent condition or otherwise tons of poorly re-dialed ones. It was after I saw gatorcpa's post on his Gubelin Ipso Vox Parking that I added Gübelin to my list. Lo and behold, the first search I did found this listed for over a week with no action. I made an offer and it was accepted, arriving today.

The photos were potato quality from the auction, but it did include movement photos that point to serial 952432. Wondering if anyone can give an reasonable estimate of production year for that?

The alarm complication works great, although fires a bit early. The watch is keeping decent time so I don't anticipate a service immediately.

Anyways, thought I'd put some high quality photos here for your viewing.

apsm100 · Apr 9, 2020

Very cool piece. Love the older case design and the lines are retained on this one.
Looks like a watchmaker or an individual in the past has handled the dial with their bare fingers so you have a bit of lacquer damage (in the shape of fingerprints!).
I read somewhere you can actually fix this but someone else would have to chime in on exactly how.

Rman · Apr 9, 2020

@gatorcpa

ufdlim · Apr 9, 2020

Seems like someone has done that here on OF: https://omegaforums.net/threads/pics-of-my-attempts-at-dial-cleaning.70541/

The risk would be not knowing if any of the printing would be washed off with the varnish (like that guy's Omega). I will likely get it done in the future. I want to enjoy it for a little bit before I roll the dice on ruining it 😀. I can't even wear it right now because the lug width on this case is probably 16 mm so doesn't fit my 18 mm straps (and existing strap is too large). Another week or so off the wrist...

apsm100 · Apr 9, 2020

U ufdlim
Seems like someone has done that here on OF: https://omegaforums.net/threads/pics-of-my-attempts-at-dial-cleaning.70541/

The risk would be not knowing if any of the printing would be washed off with the varnish (like that guy's Omega). I will likely get it done in the future. I want to enjoy it for a little bit before I roll the dice on ruining it 😀. I can't even wear it right now because the lug width on this case is probably 16 mm so doesn't fit my 18 mm straps (and existing strap is too large). Another week or so off the wrist...

I believe it was more just spot treatments not a full cleaning of the dial. It was something that involved coffee grounds or a tea bag...

gatorcpa · Apr 9, 2020

The dial on this one has similar schmutz (that’s a technical term — look it up) to my example:

I would not recommend cleaning the dial. Jaeger-LeCoultre dials tend to have very fragile paint.

Please don’t ask me how I know.
gatorcpa

ufdlim · Apr 15, 2020

A little heat, toothpaste, and polywatch got almost all the scratches out of the crystal.

Still trying to find a good 17mm band. Power reserve on this has been over 48 hours for a full wind, which is crazy to me for something this age.

hejsam · Apr 15, 2020

U ufdlim
A little heat, toothpaste, and polywatch got almost all the scratches out of the crystal.

Still trying to find a good 17mm band. Power reserve on this has been over 48 hours for a full wind, which is crazy to me for something this age.

Good job, a nice 18mm strap would probably work just fine. If you want to spend some money you should let someone make a custom 17mm strap!

Candle00 · Apr 27, 2020

U ufdlim
Hey! Pretty new here and into mechanical watches in general. It's weird that in just two years I've progressed from a Seiko 5 to vintage Grand and King Seikos and now a vintage Seamaster and this Gübelin Ipso Vox. I think I'll finalize my collection with a Futurematic next. I'll need to learn to stop...

I've been in the market for a Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox for a while after selling my Seikos. The problem has always been the competition for ones in decent condition or otherwise tons of poorly re-dialed ones. It was after I saw gatorcpa's post on his Gubelin Ipso Vox Parking that I added Gübelin to my list. Lo and behold, the first search I did found this listed for over a week with no action. I made an offer and it was accepted, arriving today.

The photos were potato quality from the auction, but it did include movement photos that point to serial 952432. Wondering if anyone can give an reasonable estimate of production year for that?

The alarm complication works great, although fires a bit early. The watch is keeping decent time so I don't anticipate a service immediately.

Anyways, thought I'd put some high quality photos here for your viewing.

There's a mint Memovox for sale over here -- https://omegaforums.net/threads/jae...with-box-papers-bracelet.112816/#post-1494908

Gübelin Ipso Vox

ufdlim

apsm100

Rman

ufdlim

apsm100

gatorcpa

ufdlim

hejsam

Candle00

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