1950s Jaeger-LeCoultre Bumper Automatic Patina'd Dial
Ref: 672975

Points of Mention

This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and therefore comes with no original JLC box or paperwork. The watch comes paired on a well-suited leather strap. The watch is from Circa. 1950s and is sold in worn, vintage, condition and therefore is showing signs of age throughout, but overall very fair condition for its age. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

Antoine LeCoultre founded LeCoultre in 1833 in the small village of Le Sentier, Switzerland. By 1866, LeCoultre’s workshop had grown from home-run manufacturers spread across Switzerland to installing modern steam-driven machines to power the tools of all watchmakers, moving them from their homes and bringing them together in one central unit. Now named LeCoultre & Cie, the company became the first manufacturer in the Vallée de Joux Switzerland. Antoine and his son  Elie LeCoultre employed more than 500 watchmakers in-house. In 1903 Edmond Jaeger, a watchmaker in Paris making watches for the French Navy, challenged the Swiss manufacturers to produce an ultrathin movement. Jacques-David LeCoultre, Elie’s son, rose to the challenge and created the world’s thinnest pocket watch, which was equipped with the LeCoultre 146 calibre, measuring 1.38mm thick.

Over the following years, Jaeger and LeCoultre kept in touch, building a solid friendship, and in 1937 Jaeger-LeCoultre was founded. In 2013 they celebrated their 180th Anniversary. They were creating iconic timepieces like the Reverso wristwatch to the brilliantly engineered Atmos clock. During the war years, the Mark VII pilot watches of the 1940s were so accurate the Royal Air Force used them as aerial navigation instruments; later, they created the first automatic watch to house a power-reserve indicator in 1948 that the US Army Air Corps used. Jaeger-LeCoultre has developed and revolutionised the watch industry like no other manufacturer. Since 2000 they have been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Swiss luxury group Richemont. This group includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, IWC Schaffhausen, Panerai, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Montblanc, Dunhill, and Chloé.

Here we have a 1950s Jaeger-LeCoultre Ref: 672975 with a 33.5mm polished and brushed stainless steel case. Long slender lugs with a lug to lug length of 42mm and a thickness of 10mm ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. On the right side is a domed crown. The polished bezel holds a domed crystal above an evenly patinated dial. An outer minute track has applied dagger indexes marking the hours.  Elegant dauphine hands have lumed tips. At 6 o’clock, a sub-second register. The dial layout is very much like the Omega Calatrava of the same time period. Text is precisely printed at 12 o’clock. On the reverse, a screw-down case back. Inside a Bumper Automatic JLC Cal. P812, 17 jewels. The watch comes fitted on a 16mm leather strap.

Personal Note