Jaeger LeCoultre Geophysic: for the explorer, the adventurer, or simply for the everyday!

Jun 04, 2014,15:16 PM
 



Fittingly held at Mr. Fogg’s, on Bruton Lane, which for the Londoners among us is just off Berkeley Square in the heart of Mayfair, Stephane Belmont introduced the new Geophysic to the attending press. For a watch that was originally linked to the crossing of the North Pole, under the polar ice cap by the nuclear submarine Nautilus, the idea of holding the presentation in the club that takes its inspiration from the circumnavigation of the globe, in eighty days no less, was a smart one. The bar room is decked out as a mix of an eccentrics living room, and an old world London club. In fact, the Reform Club! The very club where Phileas Fogg made his wager, set off, and returned in (just under) eighty days. The walls are adorned with stuffed animals and maps of places that were formerly coloured ‘red’ as part of the British Empire!




[Stephane Belmont, Jaeger LeCoultre’s very own Phileas Fogg, gives a speech about the Geophysic watch and the new edition.]

The watch was named after the year: 1958. No, not the year 1958: but the internationally declared convention that 1958 was the Geophysical year. It was an attempt to unite the various international bodies to explore some of the remaining untouched regions of the planet. The research programme was conducted by 67 nations from both the West and East, and involved the scientific and experimental fields of seismology and polar exploration. Something that would have definitely interested Jules Verne!



The Geophysic is the kind of watch that is missing in today’s market. It was from a time when the sports watch was not the size of a hockey puck, and you could wear the watch with formal attire, your casual attire, and your Navy uniform if you so wished. The original Geophysic was developed initially for use in precision timekeeping. It featured, at the time, a number of technical innovations that put the Geophysic at the pinnacle of watchmaking achievements. The base movement was the same manual wind as used in military watches at that time. The stop-second feature enabled precision time setting. To that was added a glucydur balance (for temperature variation) and then fitted with a shock absorber and a “swan neck” index for micro adjustments. The movement was housed inside a Faraday cage, a soft iron inner case that protects against magnetism.


[The original Geophysic with the route taken by the Nautilus under the North Pole]

To some extent Jaeger LeCoultre were not unlike some other brands at the time creating superlative chronometers for use in hazardous conditions and where precision timing was required. This particular watch: the Geophysic had the distinction of serving as the watch for the captain on board the USS Nautilus as it made its historic voyage under the ice at the North Pole and crossed from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean. It took three days of complete submersion and was conducted in such secrecy, because of the Cold War rivalries, that only after the mission was successfully completed did the world come to know about the accomplishment. It was seen as such an accomplishment, that the captain of the Nautilus (no, not Nemo): Captain Anderson made the cover of Life magazine.


[The original Geophysic with a picture of the USS Nautilus]

Recently, Jaeger LeCoultre have made a number of re-issues of previously iconic watches. Modern editions have been issued for the Memorvox and Reverso models and have proven as successful with contemporary consumers as they did originally. To some extent then, it is perhaps no surprise that the Geophysic has been reissued and revamped for more modern tastes in mechanical watches. The watch is now slightly larger with a diameter of 38.5 mm (the original was 35.5 mm). The watch now contains an automatic movement (Jaeger LeCoultre’s proprietary 898/1), but has (like its predecessor) used the best of movement technology for the time. In keeping with the original watch, the movement has a stop second for accurate time setting. The balance has screws for micro adjustment; kifparechoc for shock resistance, Spyr gears for smooth transmission of torque from the winding barrels, and ceramic ball bearings on the rotor for lubrication free winding. As with the original watch, the movement is housed inside the Faraday cage.


[The original Geophysic on the wrist. The very definition of an understated sports or activity watch]

Unlike the original Geophysic, the new watch is subjected to Jaeger LeCoultre’s 1000 Hour Control test for reliability. The new watch is water depth rated to 10 atmospheres (100 metres), which might not get it to the sufficient depth to cross the North Pole, but sufficient for most of us. Bucking the trend for display backs on watches, the new Geophysic has a solid back with a globe design as the original did.





There are three metals and each of them a limited edition. A steel version, which is the same metal as the original, but with an updated dial; a ‘3’ and ‘9’ now appear at the relevant parts of the dial. A ‘cross hair’ divides up the dial. The limited edition in steel has 800 pieces. An 18-carat rose gold version that carries the same dial design as the steel will come in a limited edition of 300 pieces. A platinum version that comes with the same dial design as the original will only have 58 pieces in the limited edition.


[The original and the new steel version]


[The original and the rose gold version]


[The original and the platinum version]

If it was my money, and it is a temptation for sure, the platinum cased version that is an exact replication of the dial was the pick of the set. The lustre of the metal, the clean look to the dial, the weight of the watch on the wrist was all just right. Add into the mix that there are only 58 in a limited edition, available only through the Jaeger LeCoultre Boutiques, makes it a classic everyday watch to have. It is elegant, tough, and made to withstand significant stresses on a mechanical watch. I am sure that Jules Verne, whether captaining the Nautilus, or traveling around the world in 80 days, would approve.

[The modern platinum Geophysic on the wrist.]

Andrew H This message has been edited by 219 on 2014-06-04 15:18:53 This message has been edited by 219 on 2014-06-04 15:19:22 This message has been edited by 219 on 2014-06-04 15:36:11 This message has been edited by amanico on 2014-06-08 00:03:54


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Bravo Andrew, very interesting review........

 
 By: Sandgroper : June 4th, 2014-18:26
I was really interested in the Steel version until I read your review. Now I am dreaming of the Platinum;) Cheers and thank you very much. Francois from Down Under

Thanks. Should definitely take a look at both, although the

 
 By: 219 : June 5th, 2014-02:02
platinum one will require access to a JLC Boutique! Might want to get your name on a list early! 58 watches - thats less than 3 per hourly time zone! Andrew H

Pleasure! nt.

 
 By: 219 : June 5th, 2014-02:03
.

The journey of SSN-571 is....

 
 By: BDLJ : June 5th, 2014-00:56
...one of my overly anoraky interests, so forgive me for the pedantry: The USS Nautilus was under Commander Anderson, he wasn't a Captain. And I believe the watches were presented after the success of Operation Sunshine.

And your anorak serves you well! Yes, you are right

 
 By: 219 : June 5th, 2014-01:17
and that will teach me to write up late at night! Thanks for reading. I think I managed to get the rest correct!! Andrew H

From Nautilus 90 North:

 
 By: BDLJ : June 5th, 2014-14:28
"I had recently been presented with a handsome gold wrist watch by the Navy League of the United States. I asked if he would, on his return tWashington, send it to my wife." p 18-19 This was just before the kick off of Operation Sunshine. The only mention... 

The operation: JUly / August 1957. The delivery of the watch to the Commanders

 
 By: amanico : June 5th, 2014-22:40
Calvert and Anderson: 16th of December 1958. Best, Nicolas

How embarrassing …

 
 By: HerrK : June 5th, 2014-05:07
… must it have been for Mr. Belmont to give his address right in front of a supersized vintage Geophysic ad that reads „Chronometre Geophysic“, when the reedition is just not that: a Chronometer! I feel sorry for him. Thank you for your report from that l... 

indeed. [nt]

 
 By: Ilja : June 5th, 2014-05:21

Agreed.

 
 By: DTL : June 5th, 2014-23:18
nt

What would you say...

 
 By: sfoskett : June 6th, 2014-13:52
What would you say if Jaeger-LeCoultre had branded this "Geomatic" instead of "Geophysic"? Obviously the automatic movement would then be excusable, but would you like the watch then? The Geomatic is arguably better known than its short-lived predecessor,... 

Easy enough

 
 By: sfoskett : June 7th, 2014-07:24
Just slap a JLC Calibre 899 in there instead of the 898 and you've got a date!

In a nutshell: no!

 
 By: HerrK : June 11th, 2014-03:54
Apart from the missing date that Nicolas pointed out already, it would be as wrong a printing Geophysic on the dial. The watch is neither a Geomatic, nor a Geophysic. It is a reedition, remake, tribute or whatever you like to call it of one of the histori... 

On another side, there was no mention of the name Geophysic on the dial of the original..

 
 By: amanico : June 11th, 2014-05:14
I've triple checked this detail before answering, in order to avoid to be shot.. ;) No, on the original, the name Geophysic, along with Chronometer, was mentionned on the blue " sticker ", glued on the case back. So, no risk of confusion.. Best, Nicolas

Which is another good reason ...

 
 By: HerrK : June 11th, 2014-06:34
... not to print Geophysic on the dial of the remake. Ok, I will stop remonstrating now! ;-) Christian

There is hope!

 
 By: stromer : June 7th, 2014-13:12
Today I visited my AD and could have a look into the JLC dealer documentation for the Tribute to Geophysic. And guess what: The pictures showed dials that were marked "Geophysic" just below the JLC logo and "Automatic" in the lower half of the dial (where... 

It will be like this...

 
 By: amanico : June 7th, 2014-13:19
SS on the left, Pt on the right: ...  

Thank you Andrew

 
 By: Dje : June 5th, 2014-23:33
Hi Andrew, Thank you for your report. I hope to see the final watches someday. Best Dje

Thanks Jerome. Good to hear from you. And yes, try and get to see

 
 By: 219 : June 7th, 2014-01:03
the watches. As ever, the watches are always so much more in the metal than on photos. Never mind how good or bad the photographer is. Andrew H

Thx for the nice & comprehensive report.. Looking forward to seeing those in the real !!

 
 By: hs111 : June 6th, 2014-03:50
Also thanks for again highlighting the historical background, and the " philosophy" behind the marvellous original.. Specifically curious on the on-the-wrist appeal of the new crosshair edition(s) Best & HAGWE ! hs

Thank you for this report, Andrew!

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : June 6th, 2014-04:02
Hope to see this one in the metal soon. Best Blomman

Good report, thanks

 
 By: gup502 : June 6th, 2014-06:34
It will indeed be interesting to see the real thing.

Thanks for Posting

 
 By: JLC Enthusiast : June 7th, 2014-00:10
I'm looking forward to seeing one of these for real... The Steel is the one that I really like as the cross hairs really add to the dial IMHO and though I like gold watches, not sure about this one in gold... Once again, thanks for the report.

Cool! And you should take a look. My preference was for the

 
 By: 219 : June 7th, 2014-01:09
original dial, but one mans food, is anthers poison! Andrew H

Great article and a lovely watch

 
 By: Steve68 : June 8th, 2014-01:06
Thanks for the article very interesting. Nearly put a deposit down on one of these last weekend but in the end didn't. Spent part of the cash on a Memovox E871 instead (TV screen). wish I had the money for both.

Welcome here, Steve. The E 871 ain't a bad choice!

 
 By: amanico : June 8th, 2014-01:08
Feel free to post some pictures of your recent catch, here, on our JLC forum. Best, Nicolas

Well as you asked

 
 By: Steve68 : June 8th, 2014-02:03
Just to say that I think there may be a problem with the hours and minutes hands on this watch and I had to put it on a NATO for now as my wrists are quite big and the leather strap it came with just isn't big enough for me. I will sort out the strap when...  

Thanks Steve! Seems that resources are being split between

 
 By: 219 : June 9th, 2014-01:08
an embarrassment of riches from JLC! Enjoy! And thanks for reading. Andrew H