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amanico
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The JLC Navy SEALs Watches, the Topic.

I'm very pleased to introduce you the Master Compressor Navy SEALs Watches, which are:

The MC Diving Alarm Navy SEALs



The MC Diving Chronograph GMT Navy SEALs:



And The MC Diving Pro Geographic Navy SEALs:



These 3 Watches are made in LE:

300 pieces for the RG Navy SEALs Depthmeter.

1500 pieces For the Navy SEALS Chrono in titanium and 300 for the RG Version.

1500 pieces for the Navy SEALs Alarm.

The Story behind these watches:

Here's an extract from Stefan CIEJKA, in October 2008 ( La Revue Des Montres ) :

"The Swiss Manufacture Jaeger LeCoultre has signed a cooperation agreement with the special forces command of the U.S. Navy, and becomes the partner of the famous watchmaker Navy SEALs, commandos and combat swimmers of the Navy of the United States.

This collaboration is expected to last several years, and will lead to the production of special series, and more limited, which will be tested by operators of the unit during the coming months.

The activity of this elite unit made a test laboratory particularly valuable."

So, this is not only marketting, but a real cooperation, which has just begun, and which will certainly know some interesting developements.

A bit like it is the case with Aston Martin, if you remember well.

Hence, it was quite easily previsible that we'd have something new to see, in the Family of Diving Watches.

I will brievely introduce you the Pro Geo and the Chronograph, as they are an evolution from the MC Diving Pro Geo and Chronograph, to have an indepht view on the Alarm, which is a real new watch.

1/ The Navy SEALs Pro Geo is the one which less impressed me, among these 3.

To say all, I'm not convinced by this one, and much prefer the previous ( and still in the catalogue ) Pro Geo with its titanium case.

Here, the titanium " normal " version:



You can see that, excpet the metal and the colors used for the dial, the RG Navy SEALs is exactly the same watch.

I already posted a topic about this Ti Pro Geo, but here are some of its characteristics:

The Case is 46,3mm big, and ...19, 8 mm Thick ( !!! ), build in titanium grade 5.

Here are some pics to allow you to have an idea of the dimensions of the Beast:







The movement is the Cal 979, which provides a powere reserve of 48 hours.

The functions are :

Hour,Minutes,a movement operating indicator, a 2d Timezone selected on the Cities Disk, and, of course, the mechanical depthmeter.

When you look at the Titanium Depthmeter pics, you now can imagine how heavy can be the RG Navy SEALs version!

Therefore, the RG is looking even more massive!

If the Titanium look corresponds to the idea I have of a ( sophisticated ) toolwatch, I don't see how it could be considered anymore in RG as a Toolwatch ,and I don't see the opportunity of a RG Depthmeter with the Navy SEALs image... ( ??? ).

I just don't get it, but to each his own.

2/ The MC Diving Chronograph GMT Navy SEALs:

Here, a quick comparison between the MC Diving Chrono and the Navy SEALs will allow you to get all the existing differences between these 2 watches, the last one being a quite important evolution of the first.

The MC Diving Chrono:





The Navy SEALs version:



If both watches share the same shape of case, the same metals ( Titanium...and RG ), and the same Water Resistance ( 1000 meters for the Titanium / 300 meters for the RG ), the dimensions are different.

The Navy SEALS is 2,3 mm bigger than the MCD Chrono.

The bezel changed too, for a steel frame Ceramic one.

The internal Pulsometer disappeared on the Navy SEALs, but this last one includes:

A Second GMT Hand, and a Night and Day Indicator.

They both share the movement operating indicator, and the Date.

All these details let guess that the movement is also different ( Cal 757 for the Navy SEALs / Cal 751 D for the MCD Chrono, but the same power reserve: 65 Hours )

The Chrono Counters on the Navy SEALs are more located at the center of the dial, compared to the MCD Chrono, and the layout of the dial is a bit different, which is not easily noticeable on the Press Pics, but you can see it here:

.



Do you see the two different levels of the dial, and the contrast between the grained and the smooth parts?

In Titanium, this watch speaks to me, by its strengh, character, which give it a lot of appeal, to me, and which is conform to the Navy SEALs Spirit.

But in RG???

I don't have pics, as I didn't see it, but I'm curious to see what it would look like...

3/ The MC Diving Alarm Navy SEALs:

To me, this is, without any hesitation, the one I prefer.

I see it as the dign descendant of the Polaris, and even more, the Polaris of the 21st Century.

It is interesting to see that it borrows a lot of the JLC DNA, or Tradition:

- Triangular indexes, like on the Polaris:



- Same Alarm triangle and disk, too, as shown on the pic above.

- Same location of the numbers and the Date, even if the numbers are bigger on the Navy SEALs, and same plain dots of the Alarm ring, too.



And some improvements, in terms of use ( Compressor Crowns and external and unidirectional bezel ), performances ( 300 meters Water Resistant instead of 200 meters ), reliability ( new movement, of course, the Cal 956 which is also used in the ...Tribute to the Polaris, with all the modern technical refinements: The Hanging gong striking mechanism, ceramic ball bearing mechanism ) and pleasure, due to the sound of the Alarm, which doesn't look anymore like a big Frog, but like a school bell, without forgetting the quick set of the date.





Look at this picture, and you will see that JLC also got the inspiration from another Memovox, the Master Compressor.

Same Hour and Seconds Hands, and same stylized ( but bigger ) numbers:



But here, in the Navy Seal, the Legibility is optimised by a bigger surface of luminous material in the hands, and by a bigger and original arrow Minute Hand.

Here may be the source of this original Arrow shaped hand: ( Credit Pic: Clavi )



Even the Second Hand of the Navy SEALs Alarm seems to be inspired by this model!

So, yes, we can say that this Navy SEALs Alarm is a True Memovox, and the dign Heir of the JLC History.

Back to the watch in itself, the N.S.A ( I love this abreviation, it sounds like another great watch, the D.S.A as for Deep Sea Alarm !) is build on a smaller case than the Pro Geographic or The Chrono GMT Navy SEALs: 44 mm instead of 46, 3mm.

It is, of course, easier wearable for an average wrist, and the case and lugs keep some nice and reasonnable proportions.



On this pic, you will better see the shape of the lugs, and the thickness of the case.

You will also admire the engraving of the Navy SEALs Emblem, which is an eagle holding a trident, which seems another evocation of some vintage Diving watches, like the JLC D.S.A, or the Omega SM 300:

Here, the N.S.A:



There, the D.S.A, and the SM 300:



SM 300 SAS, Credit Pic to Philipps:



I'm not a big fan of the Compressor Crowns, but on this one, I think that they are very à propos, like if they enhanced the Tool Watch look of this N.S.A.

So, the whole watch has a very pleasant presentation, sober, with a nice combination of Grey / White / and Black, enhanced or dynamized by the Red Head of the central second hand.

Here, no fantasy at all; only Strengh, as a Tool Watch has to be, for the Legibility.

I managed to take some macro pics of the dial, which are so so, but at least you will have a more precise idea of the finish:









The interesting points are:

The Black and White Painted Hour and Minute Hands.

The Black and White applied indexes and numbers.

The engraved writings Jaeger Lecoultre Diving Alarm 300 meters and JL Symbol on the Sapphire Glass.

And the whole quality of the design of this watch, which is really appealing.

On the wrist?

Just perfect for my average sized wrist, very comfortable to wear, and light, too, due to its Titanium Grade 5 case, which looks like a microbillé case.

Big, yes it is, but also sober, elegant and powerful:



The N.S.A comes with ( AFAIK ) 3 different straps:

An Articulated Rubber strap, as shown on the press pic file.

A Cordura strap, a bit like the one on the DBS or the Amvox III.

And a Nato strap, which comes with the Cordura one.

I asked JLC to put it on the N.S.A, and here is the outcome:



On the wrist:



Interesting, but not really surprising, as the Nato works very well with the spirit of this watch.

So, to bring a conclusion to this post, I'd say that among these 3 Diving Navy SEALs, my favourite is ( isn't it a surprise? LOL ) the N.S.A.

To me, this is a very nice Black Memovox, and a Diving one, too, like the Polaris was 40 years ago.

With this watch, JLC is " feeding " his History in Diving Watches in an elegant way.

I like the N.S Chrono, a bit more charged with its busy dial, but not bad at all,and coherent.

The only one which let me perplex is the Navy SEALs Dephtmeter.

I don't get it with its Rose Gold Case, I don't see the link with this elite Corps, while I would see it if it was in ceramic, for example.

A Black Depthmeter would have really been more coherent, and strong, too.

But, as we use to say, to each his own...

What's your take?

Best.

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-01-29 00:26:50 This message has been edited by Dje on 2009-02-03 02:03:14

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