amanico[JLC Moderator]
338397
A Trip In Asia. Part 3: Jaeger-Lecoultre Duometre à Quantième Lunaire Enamel.
Dec 01, 2014,00:00 AM
This is THE Watch, along with the Tribute To Geophysic in stainless steel, I wanted to test on the wrist during this trip.
The Tribute To Geophysic, I wrote a lot about it, so I will not come back to it, here, but the " QL Enamel ", I had to convince JLC to let me play with it for some days.
The reasons are obvious:
- I love the Duometre Line, with a light preference for the " A Chronographe " and a strong attraction for the Unique Travel Time.
Not that I dislike the " Q.L ", but till I saw it in this enamel dial configuration, it was not my priority.
- I am a big, huge fan of enamel dials, and, obviously, this " Q.L " is just superb. So, I had to see if my priorities were still in this order: A Chronographe, UTT, and QL, or if something had changed, since I ( sadly? ) cannot afford all of these three in the same time.
Getting the three makes sense, as they are all very complementary: The A Chronographe could be used for the sport chic moments, the UTT to travel with class, and the QL Enamel for the elegant oppotunities of life...
I owned the Duometre à Chronographe for 3 years, I travelled with the UTT during my stay in South California, but I still had to evaluate the power of attraction of the QL.
It is now done.
I am totally in love with this watch, and one reason surprised me more than others, the size.
Normally, I don't like Duometres to be Under the original size, which is 42 mm. Here, the QL is 40,5 mm. On the paper, I had some reserves, in the real, I am deeply convinced that JLC took the right decision, because to me, the enamel dial would not have the same impact with a a bigger size.
Elegance works better with smaller cases, in my opinion.
Moreover, the enamel dial has such an important aperture that it looks bigger than 40, 5 mm.
The comfort on the wrist is undisputable. Is is due to the smaller case, or to the pin buckle, or both?
The pleasure is clear, this Watch has so much to offer to its owner, in terms of elegance, presence.
We had, several times, some discussions with my local friends, about the small seconds running perpetually and fast. It was often mentionned that this detail was maybe a bit contradictory with the spirit, the environment of this watch, with the serenity of the enamel dial or of the moonphase.
Still, I am strongly convinced that the name given to this Duometre is not very well chosen. Indeed, what is the main goal of this one? The moonphase, which from my point of view is more an original pretext than anything else, with an accuracy of one day each 2,5 years, or the accuracy of its movement, with one barrel dedicated to the balance Wheel, while the second barrel and its gear train is here to feed to time functions ( time, date and moonphase )?
The trip in Asia instantaneously gave me the idea to ask JLC to let me play with this Watch, because I clearly saw an association between China and Porcelain. Since, wearing an enamel dialed Watch in the country of porcelain was, somehow, à propos, even if Singapore is not China, and that things are more complicated when it comes to Hong Kong.
One thing is sure, this Duometre à QL won my heart, during these five days...
Here are the pictures of my trip, with this beauty on my wrist.
Singapore, first.
In front of one of the nicest hôtels, The Raffles:
Not far from another Hotel, The Fullerton, with the Marina Bay Sand in the background:
In Marina Bay Sand:
In Hong Kong, now...
Just Close to the Heritage 1881:
At the Peak, with an awesome panorama:
Some static shots, with some local material used as a background.
Singapore " style ":
Hong Kong:
On an old wooden table, in my hotel room.
The only issue I had with the QL was to give it back to JLC at the end of my trip... Which means all...
Best,
Nicolas.
This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-12-01 00:32:12 This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-12-04 00:28:45