The BEST Wrist Watch I Own ......

[shadow]

Sometime back in the '70's I acquired, what is considered today, a desireable vintage Jeager-LeCoultre Memovox Automatic Date Alarm precision wrist watch, with a few extra features not found on many other watches of this late 1950's vintage. Antoine LeCoultre, the founder, opened his 1st workshop in 1933, and in 1947 created a revolutionary system that did away with the need for keys to rewind and set watches, by a simple but brilliant solution creating a pushbutton that activated a lever to switch from one function to another. The Memovox Model made its debut in 1950 and was in production until 1968. In 1956 LeCoultre created the world's first automatic alarm watch on the Memovox model. My all stainless watch (and bracelet) is fitted with the automatic LeCoultre calibre 916 with calendar and alarm, usually fitted with either the calendar feature or the alarm feature, but rarely both. Also, most Memovox models were made with manual wind movements not automatic. The movement has 268 pieces, 28,800 vibrations per hour, and 23 jewels, fitted with an all original satin finish silver-gold dial with gold stick markers and a date display at 3 o'clock. It has the rare and original signed JLC crowns. An interesting and rarer feature than signed crowns is the bracelet, an expensive factory option. Very few of these original Memovox bracelets have survived, but when they do, they command very high prices, typically exceeding $1,000. for the band alone. These rare bracelets were made for Jaeger-LeCoultre (pronounced, yeager la colt) by Gay Freres, one of Switzerland's finest bracelet manufacturers. The Freres company was founded in 1835, and originally focused on creating exquisite hand made gold chains. In the 1940's they began producing factory watch bracelets for the better Swiss watch brands like J-LeCoultre and Rolex. He made the highly prized Rolex Bonklip "bamboo" bracelets found on the Prince model. In order to gain exclusive rights to the Gay Freres Manufacturing Co., Rolex bought them and moved the operation in house. It's a great watch, but like my prized firearms, I don't remove it from the safe very often to take for a ride. However, Boge's "pocket watch" thread a couple months ago, did help remind me of this watch, and have since worn it a few times. It was fun. As many of us, I like the finer things, including jewelry, but am not very comfortable wearing it, so for the most part, I don't. Anyway, hears a few photos, not great quality, but hopefully you get the idea.
Shadow

[aciera]

268 pieces!!!!!
One of the Venus missions in the 70's had a one cubic foot volume with about 50,000 pieces.

Your watch makes them blush.

Very nice.

Very few realize the man hours to produce such a gem.
Thanks

[Boge Quinn]

Now you're SCARING me - I can't afford another hobby!

[shadow]

Good observation "aceria"...... JLC watches, depending on the features and complexity, boast 800 to 1,000 hours of testing and assembly ......... and Boge, its hobbies like this that keep us energized!.
A final note of rather great importance, and what helped me determine which high precision Swiss wrist watch I wanted to purchase, (for both personal reasons and collector value), was my in depth research that led me to Jaeger-LeCoultre . They were, and still are only 1 of 2 or 3 Swiss watch manufacturers, who produce their own movements, cases, dials, hands and bracelets. Virtually every single component in a JLC watch is hand finished, and produced in house, thus enabling them to maintain strict quality control, resulting in JLC watches being recognized as among the very finest hand crafted watches available. Another important, but little known fact is that Jaeger-LeCoultre, in addition to producing movements for its own watches, also produced precision movements for famous watch houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Patek Philppe and Cartier. Of these manufacturers, I believe Patek Philippe now produces their own movements.
Just a bit of additional but important info, I thought I'd add to my original thread, that a few "potential" timepiece hobbyist's might find interesting.
Shadow