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amanico
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JLC SIHH 2011: The Master Géographique.

The Master Geographique has always been an important watch, in my personal journey into horology, as it was one of the very first JLC which amazed me, with the Memovox.

At that time, in the 90ies, which other brand did offer such a complication?

Patek came after, in 1999 or 2000, with the 5110, as well as GP, a bit later.

I was always amazed by this complication, whose magical appeal was enhanced by some stunning dials ( here, I mean the black one, or the blue of the platinum version ), and by the officer case back.

Here a picture from the 2002 JLC Catalog:



I was a bit less happy with the following model, which was in production till last year, because of its bigger dimensions, and mainly because of the big power reserve indicator which ruined a bit the beauty and the balance of the dial.

So, you can now understand why I'm so happy to introduce you, this year, a new version, which is closer to the one from the 90ies than to the last one.

I hesitated a lot before using the word " new " to describe this Master Géographique.

New, or redesigned?

I would say, in this case, that the watch has been so much re designed that I feel authorized to call it new.

Indeed, the case is 39 mm big, now ( instead of 40 mm, on the former model ), the lugs are bevelled, the bezel is slimmer ( as we had the pleasure to see it in the very recent past with the new Master Memovox, Master Chrono or the Master Hometime ), the crowns are re designed too.

To be precise, the new Master Geographique is one mm bigger than the Master Geographique from the 90ies.

First excellent point: The case looks much more elegant, almost precious.

The same work has been done on the dial:

The long thin triangular hour markers reappear for my greatest pleasure, as I always thought that the former version lacked something...

Now, the Dauphine hands, as well as the blue second hand seem to have the right size, while they appeared too short on the former Geo.

The power reserve indicator gains in elegance, with this new design, as well as the date and the 2d time zone subdials.

It gains in elegance, balance and purity.

The only thing which doesn't change too much on this new Master Géographique is the movement, the Cal 939,which beats at the same rythm than the previous Cal 937 ( 28 800 vibrations per hour ), has the same power reserve, and the same size.

The differences between the 2 Calibres seem very small, and I will have to ask about that, but from the informations I gathered, the only differences are that the 939 has 3 more parts ( 310 instead of 307 ), and 4 jewels less ( 34 instead of 38 ).

Maybe you want to see it, now?



Ok, let's go:







One thing I have to say about the case back, though:

I dreamt to see an officer case back, like on the former Master Geographique from the late 90ies, but it is not the case, as you can see here:



Well, all in all, an excellent watch, and to say all, I even fear that JLC releases it with a black dial.

If they do it, my wish list may well be longer, and believe me, this year, it is too long, yet.

I'm also very happy to see JLC re thinking and reducing the volume of their dressy watches, as we already saw it with the Grande MUT Moon 39.

It goes in the direction of a bigger purity and elegance, in my opinion.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,

Best.

Nicolas. This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-04-01 00:01:12 This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-04-04 13:48:51

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