Le Coultre Futurematic Porthole

[SBNL]

Hello,
New to the forum and am looking for some advice and some feedback.

I have inherited a Le Coultre Futurematic Porthole watch that is clearly in need of restoration. I am looking for a highly recommended restoration person/shop. From browsing this site as well as good ol’ Google, it seems for this complicated movement and watch, the Watch Guy in the UK seems to be a good possibility. I am in California but don’t care where I need to ship it to get it right. Please advise.

Second question: There seem to be a few variations in the watch faces/dials for this model. The model with the black-filled long arrow in the seconds “porthole” and 12, 3, 6, and 9 numerals on the main face seems to be by far the most common. The one I have has an open black triangle as the “second hand” and no numerals on the main face, which is very hard to find online (I did find a few examples out there, but it was not easy). How do the various watch face/dial configurations affect the value of these watches, and does this have a specific model reference? I have not opened it up to see the movement; I’ll leave that for the professionals.

Many Thanks!

Nils

Santa Barbara, CA

 

[efauser]

S SBNL

Hello,
New to the forum and am looking for some advice and some feedback.

I have inherited a Le Coultre Futurematic Porthole watch that is clearly in need of restoration. I am looking for a highly recommended restoration person/shop. From browsing this site as well as good ol’ Google, it seems for this complicated movement and watch, the Watch Guy in the UK seems to be a good possibility. I am in California but don’t care where I need to ship it to get it right. Please advise.

Second question: There seem to be a few variations in the watch faces/dials for this model. The model with the black-filled long arrow in the seconds “porthole” and 12, 3, 6, and 9 numerals on the main face seems to be by far the most common. The one I have has an open black triangle as the “second hand” and no numerals on the main face, which is very hard to find online (I did find a few examples out there, but it was not easy). How do the various watch face/dial configurations affect the value of these watches, and does this have a specific model reference? I have not opened it up to see the movement; I’ll leave that for the professionals.

Many Thanks!

Nils

Santa Barbara, CA

There is a forum for other watch brands: https://omegaforums.net/#other-watch-brands.14. You must not have noticed this isn't a vintage Omega.

 

[X350 XJR]

Cool watch.

Not intimately familiar with these but dial configuration is not likely to play much into value one way or another.

Have it serviced, have the case cleaned and lightly hand polished, replace the crystal and do not attempt to clean/restore the dial.

Nice leather strap, enjoy.

 

[janice&fred]

It's refreshing to see an original dial on one of these. Most are repainted. Those movements are tricky to service for sure but hopefully you can find someone stateside rather than ship it overseas. From what I recall they have some Rube Goldberg style stop mechanism on the rotor to prevent over-winding, and that along with that slider gig for the crown cause problems when they get old. It's not a watch for the faint of heart.

 

[Larry S]

S SBNL

Hello,
New to the forum and am looking for some advice and some feedback.

I have inherited a Le Coultre Futurematic Porthole watch that is clearly in need of restoration. I am looking for a highly recommended restoration person/shop. From browsing this site as well as good ol’ Google, it seems for this complicated movement and watch, the Watch Guy in the UK seems to be a good possibility. I am in California but don’t care where I need to ship it to get it right. Please advise.

Second question: There seem to be a few variations in the watch faces/dials for this model. The model with the black-filled long arrow in the seconds “porthole” and 12, 3, 6, and 9 numerals on the main face seems to be by far the most common. The one I have has an open black triangle as the “second hand” and no numerals on the main face, which is very hard to find online (I did find a few examples out there, but it was not easy). How do the various watch face/dial configurations affect the value of these watches, and does this have a specific model reference? I have not opened it up to see the movement; I’ll leave that for the professionals.

Many Thanks!

Nils

Santa Barbara, CA

This watch needs a service, including a new crystal, not restoration. No need to take the risk of sending this across the pond. Our Cali members can steer you local. LA Watch works, Nesbits come to mind.

 

[Dan S]

Too bad that classicwatch is not servicing watches anymore, that would have been my recommendation. Maintaining vintage watches isn't getting any easier unfortunately. I wonder if Zaf would give you a referral if you contacted him.

 

[Vitezi]

Calling @gatorcpa 😀

 

[JwRosenthal]

Dan S

Too bad that classicwatch is not servicing watches anymore, that would have been my recommendation. Maintaining vintage watches isn't getting any easier unfortunately. I wonder if Zaf would give you a referral if you contacted him.

I see no reason to keep it in CA, send it to Zaf and it will be done right the first time.

http://www.classicwatch.com/

 

[Archer]

JwRosenthal

I see no reason to keep it in CA, send it to Zaf and it will be done right the first time.

http://www.classicwatch.com/

As noted, they are not repairing watches any longer...

"Thank you for your interest in the Classicwatch watch repair service. As of August 2022, our watchmaker has retired and we are no longer accepting customer repairs. Thank you for your years of patronnage. It was a good run!"

 

[SBNL]

Thank you all for the help and suggestions. I will reach out to see if Classicwatch might provide additional referrals to the ones received here.
Also, apologies for being in the wrong forum, I did not scroll down far enough on the main page to see the correct forum to post this in. I'll do better next time.
Best,
Nils

 

[JwRosenthal]

Archer

As noted, they are not repairing watches any longer...

"Thank you for your interest in the Classicwatch watch repair service. As of August 2022, our watchmaker has retired and we are no longer accepting customer repairs. Thank you for your years of patronnage. It was a good run!"

Oh shit, I missed that- what a bummer!

 

[gatorcpa]

Vitezi

Calling @gatorcpa 😀

He sent me a PM earlier today. I did not know about Classicwatch no longer servicing. That’s a shame.
gatorcpa