Vintage Jaeger LeCoultre franken project (pic heavy)

[foxindebox]

Hi everyone,


I've just started work on my vintage Jaeger Lecoultre franken and thought I'd share my progress with anyone who is interested.


Firstly I have sourced a mid sixties JLC K800c manual wind movement, complete with dial and hands from eBay (if I remember rightly, it cost about £70). It is in very good working condition and keeps time well (although not accurately measured as yet).









I have decided to get the dial restored, so removed it and posted it off to D R Bill and Sons, who by all accounts are very good. I did want the dial to be more of a silver colour instead of the current "champagne" it should be. Hopefully, it should look good with the case I have sourced (more of that in the next post).


Anyway, here are some more pictures I took when removing the dial to send away.



















So, that's all for now...... Plenty more to come.

 

[Malkovich]

Cool project!

 

[takoxavy]

Good luck dude!

 

[Malkovich]

Please would you post pics of the base watch/ parts? Thanks, and looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[foxindebox]

Right, here are some movement and case pictures. Not the best pictures I'm afraid due to limits of my iphone

And now for the case which was bought on an M2M sale for €30, which is good value for period LeCoultre

That's it for now

 

[mclarendude]

Subscribed! love these projects!

 

[foxindebox]

Well here we go...


The dial came back today and I think it looks lovely

I popped the hands back on

And into the case she went. There are still a few bits n bobs that need sorting (such the crown and strap), but I am over the moon with the result and just had to pop it on a strap to try it on.


Anyway, I hope you all like it! More pictures to come when it's finally finished.

 

[Fiveostang]

Looks great.

 

[Ruski91]

Thought ide give you some praise on this forum too! Looks fantastic! For the price, i am assuming the case is Rep? Congrats!

 

[foxindebox]

Hello again! Thanks very much

No, it's absolutely genuine. I bought it from a guy on the other RWG. Couldn't believe my luck, nice 50's/60's SS case in amazing condition!

 

[foxindebox]

Actually, just checked my figures. The case was €40 including PP and shipping so about £30 not euros, delivered

Still a bargain!!

 

[mclarendude]

Wow!!! Looking great!!


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[feloniousmonk]

Very cool! That dial refinish is excellent!

 

[revhrd]

Very nice

 

[foxindebox]

Just thought I'd post an update to this thread.


One of the issues I had with this build was that here was no casing ring with the movement. I used a plastic one and it did the job, but I was not satisfied. Also the crown was not the right one for the case I bought. I didn't mind an unsigned crown, but I had no idea which one would fit.


So, I decided to send it off to a watchmaker I had used before and trusted implicitly. Christian Danneman (watch guy.co.uk) is a great guy and very reasonable so I sent the watch to him for a casing ring to be made, a new crown and tube fitted and a complete service (I had cleaned and oiled the watch myself, but am in no way up to his standards).


I've not yet had the watch back, but here are the work in progress pictures he sent (which are regularly updated).

There will be more pictures to follow when he job is completed. I highly recommend Christian for any work on Gen watches (unfortunately he does not work on reps).


These pictures are posted with permission from watchguy.co.uk

 

[rol_man]

Great project, I enjoy seeing these old watches come back to life!

Rep points for this thread! :thumbsup:

 

[Overport]

A great project, thanks for sharing. You are going to enjoy wearing that JLC.

 

[jai04]

This looks absolutely fantastic. Considering the prices of the parts, You really have something special here :notworthy:

 

[iggypop]

That was such a good purchase form£70' looks amazing tatters the dial got touched up

 

[ibmx2]

Amazing great work