| Author | Message | ||
     Michael Lester Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
I'm interested in the history of these watches - dates they were made, different styles that were offered, etc. Can tell me where I can find this out? Thanks, Michael | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 1104 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
Is this a general question or one about JLC Mystery watches? | ||
| Michael Lester Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
Sorry I didn't specify. JLC Mystery watches only. I tried google searches and didn't turn up anything there. Michael | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 1107 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
There are a large variety of mystery watches (probably too many for a general answer), most often found as U.S. market "LeCoultre" watches. They can be from gold filled ones with no diamonds to the full diamond dial Vacheron/LeCoultre "Galaxy" model. These were produced in the 1950s. | ||
| GregB Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
Zaf, you infer with your answer that there were some non-US Jaeger-LeCoultre branded Mystery Dials made. I've never seen one of these, but I bought some NOS Galaxy outer dials in Switzerland a few years ago that had "Jaeger-LeCoultre" printed at the bottom instead of "LeCoultre" and had always wondered about them. Have you ever seen a complete Mystery with "Jaeger-LeCoultre" on the dial? Pictures? Thanks! Greg | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 1109 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
I'm not sure there is such a thing as a Swiss market Galaxy, as it's cased in 14k. If you have seen one, I'm very interested in looking at it. Most mystery dial watches (like > 90%) are US market LeCoultre vs Euro JLCs, yes. | ||
| GregB Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
A follow-up question on the "Euro-JLC" mystery dial watches that you mention. What were they cased in and what models were they? Now that you mention it I've never seen a Euro (non-US LeCoultre-cased) Mystery Dial that I can recall. Yet the JLC signed NOS Galaxy dials that I found would seem to indicate that some were produced. Do you have any pictures of a "Euro-JLC" that you mention was about 10% of production? Were these the flared lug cases, or perhaps the 18K florentine bezel cases? Thanks! Greg | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 1110 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
The most frequently seen Euro mystery, is the one with the transparent center like this: http://www.watch-prices.com/graphics/images/watches/mpt0448.jpg After that, I do not have any photos, but I have seen them in 18k with the flared lug case of the model some of the US price guides call the "Saturn". I have never seen the 37 diamond dial Galaxy as a Euro watch. | ||
| GregB Unregistered guest Rating: N/A |
Thanks, Zaf. When you mentioned a Euro-Mystery, I wasn't even thinking of the clear backwind version as it doesn't really fit the category of the rest of the Mystery Dial models. I have to admit that I have never seen one of the 14 diamond or 2-diamond (hands-only) or 0-diamond versions of the Saturn with a Euro case yet either. Maybe I need to keep looking. I had assumed that the Galaxy/Saturn Mystery Dial series were a US-LeCoultre-only product since I had never seen a Euro case. But then there were the "Jaeger-LeCoultre" signed Galaxy dials that always made me wonder. Say, did you happen to catch the Galaxy Alarm that Hess sold a year or so ago? Looked just like an early 14K 37-diamond Galaxy, but it had a cal 489 or 814 (don't remember) movement. At first I thought it was a frankenwatch, but everything about the watch looked proper and original. The case didn't look modified to fit the larger alarm movement and the 2 stem openings in the case looked original and not manufactured. Have you ever seen one of these before? | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 1111 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
JLC pretty much exported 75% of its movement production to the US after WWII. The vast majority of Alarms, Futurematics, mystery dials, etc where bound for the US. Most Europeans had no real money to speak of for the 10 years following WWII and this export strategy insured the survival of JLC. There definitely are Euro mystery watches, I just have not seen them with huge amounts of diamonds like the Galaxy. The are fairly rare but they do exist. As far as the Hess Galaxy alarm, I have not seen it, but I am suspicious of anything that seems to be a one off at this point. The unfortunate thing about US production is that there are no surviving archives about anything for the US market. JLC Switzerland can only tell you if a particular movement was exported to the US, not what watch it ever made itself into. They also have NO USA market catalogs or archival material, making the authentification of something like a Galaxy alarm impossible. If you look at some of the recent fakes that have popped up at some of the big auction houses, like vintage 18k Reversos and "jump hours", you'll note that they are all "LeCoultre" and not JLC as it is impossible to verify if it's the real deal by movement or case serial #s via the factory. |