Jaeger-LeCoultre

MartyW
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Why power reserve?

MJT,

If you have a watch winder and the watch will be on it all the time when not on the wrist, then the power meter is not that useful.

However if your expected Master Reserve de Marche is not something you wear all the time and you don't use a watch winder, then it is very useful to know when approximately the watch will stop. For example if you are traveling and you rely on the watch the next morning to tell time, you want to make sure it still has 10+ hours of power left before hitting the bed. Or you will be sitting in a half day meeting (without much movement), you can check to see how much you can trust the watch won't stop as the meeting progress. Or you have a desk job ... Well, you get the idea.

Unlike a manual wind, you shouldn't manually wind an automatic all the way, and so it's hard to tell at which point the watch is at full reserve.

That said, with your wrist size, you should also look at both the 34mm MUT and the 38mm MUT. Although JLC intended to discontinue the 34mm MUT earlier this year, it has since decided otherwise. With my MUT I don't have the problem in guessing when it will stop. I pick up the watch, give it about 20 winds until it won't let me wind any more, and I know it will stop after 38 hours. Plain and simple.

Another round watch you could also contemplate is the old Master Hometime (2008 and older). However the disadvantage of that watch is it doesn't have the reserve de marche meter. And although it is 40mm, with the thick bezel and relatively busy dial, it fits a 6.5" wrist quite well too. Unfortunately the same size new/current Hometime will look too big on your wrist as the thin bezel will make it looks a lot bigger than the old Hometime. Similarly the 40mm Master Control will look funny too. Although the bezel is the same thickness as the old Hometime, the dial is too simple and so it appears quite a bit bigger than the old Hometime on the wrist.

Good luck in any JLC, especially the RDM.

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