| Author | Message | ||
     Hayek New member Username: Hayek Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
Bought this vintage JLC a while ago. The case is 37 mm without the crown. Would be nice to know more about it, for example age and quality of the movement. It would also be interesting to hear your opinion about if I should re-finish the dial or not.     | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 4731 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
I don't know what case reference it is, but the movement is likely a caliber 450 (from that family like a 478) from the 1950s. You should be able to see those number stamped under the bridge wheel to the left, near the case edge. Quality of these movements is quite nice. To refinish or not is up to you, but to me, it looks like a pretty good candidate for one. I don't think it will impact value, given where we are with the present dial. | ||
| Gregb Advanced Member Username: Gregb Post Number: 287 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
I believe that the model you have is one designated as a reference 2953 in old JLC catalogs. The 2953 was listed as a 12-1/2 ligne model, which also matches up to the movement calibers that Zaf mentioned:  | ||
| Christopherg Junior Member Username: Christopherg Post Number: 34 Registered: 03-2010 Rating: N/A |
Interesting to note that the case number is inside instead of outside, and lacks the 'B' for 14k gold. The dial shown in Greg's post is quite different, having stylized numerals (I have one similar but with teardrop lugs) instead of gold-coloured applied numerals and markers. Movement is P450/4C. Photo attached. Chris  | ||
| Gregb Advanced Member Username: Gregb Post Number: 288 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
Chris, Beautiful watch! I love the teardrop lug models. Regarding dial differences above, the catalog reference numbers were assigned to a particular case design and there were often a few different different dial variations offered for each case reference. I don't know what models had case numbers stamped on the inside vs outside. Perhaps Zaf or others know. My guess (a wild guess) would be that each of the various case suppliers to JLC followed their own case stamping conventions. | ||
| Franco New member Username: Franco Post Number: 7 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
Personally I would not get the dial refinished ... what I would do instead is to have patience, and scan the market for an original dial for replacement. Every so often some come out, and you will need your watchmaker to take measurements of the diameter, and position of the dial feet. With this data, and some luck, you would end up with a good looking vintage plus its original dial in a drawer, which you could mount back in the watch should you want so. | ||
| Hayek New member Username: Hayek Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
Thanks for quick replies. Now I checked the numbers on the movement. It's marked with 1232571 and P478/o. The movement looks like new but it loses about 90 seconds in 24 hours. Is that normal or a sign that it need service? I don't have any service history on the watch. | ||
| Hayek New member Username: Hayek Post Number: 3 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
Also - I think I want to refinish the dial - which companies can you recommend and what price can I expect? |