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amanico
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An in Depth review on the Géomatic

When we speak about Chronometers, we can't avoid the Géomatic, a nice and very elegant watch released in 1961.



JLC communicated a lot during the life of this model ( 1962 - 1970 ), which actually was not produced in an impressive quantity ( 2000 pieces in SS, and around 2300 in YG and RG )

Let's say that the Géomatic was produced in different variant of dials, too, from the simpler to the most elaborated ( for these last ones, ref E 398 / 1 and ref E 399, both in YG ), and that also existed a very different case, Tonneau shaped, which was the rarest Géomatic ever produced.

Here's a scan I found of this very rare bird ( Thanks to Romain Réa )



And here a nice family pic of all the JLC Chronometers, to be credited to Mr MEHLTRETTER:



Or here, in the 1970 Catalogue:



Some ads about this watch:

From 1962:





Here, another " Géomatic, for the Action Man " ad, from 1965, illustrating once again a link between JLC and Polo:







And another nice ad from 1963:



The Geomatic was the second Chronometer released by JLC.

The first one is the mythical Geophysic, which had a really short life ( 1958 / 1961 ) and quite scarce ( a bit less than 1400 pieces ).

Here, the Geophysic in SS:



And now, in rose gold:







Another one with the correct hands:



Back to the Geomatic, let's now have an in depth view on the simpler model, the SS Ref E 399.

1/ The movement :

There are 2 references for the Geomatic movement: The Cal K 881 G, and the Cal K 883 S, G standing for Geomatic, and S for Stop Seconde ( Thanks, Zaf, for this Information, as I didn't know that! ), the 883 S being available only for the YG and the SS Geomatic.

Here's a pic I found on the Web, so I don't know wo to credit for it :



As you can see, it is not a first price of Beauty in terms of finish ( at the contrary of the Cal 478 of the Geophysic ), but it is far from being ugly.

To give you an idea, here's a pic of the magnificient Geophysic Caliber:



The most important is that this movement is a very reliable one, with some nice technical solutions, like the instantaneous change of date at 12, A Kif Shock protection ( hence the meaning of the K in the reference of this caliber (Thanks again, Zaf) ), severe Chronometry tests ( 360 Hours, so 15 Days ) which allowed JLC to provide for this watch a Certificate from the Cosc, and an adjustment to Five Positions adjusted to Temperatures.

The Rotor is pleasant, with a nice and original " JL " Logo which allows to see the other parts of the movement.

The dimensions of this movemet are: 25, 99 mm big, and 6,17mm thick.

To be complete, it beats at 19800 Vibrations Per Hour, and it bears the Lecoultre signature , not Jaeger Lecoultre , for all the watches, included the European ones.

So, JLC much worked on the reliability, the accuracy than on the Beauty of this movement, clearly.

2/ The Case Back is another specificity of the Géomatic:

As if JLC wanted to remind us that the story of their Chronometers took its source in a special event, the International Geophysical Year ( IGY ), The " Grande Maison " decided to engrave on the Géomatic Case Back the IGY Logo, which represents a very nice planisphere:





There is a nice story behind the use by JLC of this Logo, which is told in the official Catalogue of this Era:

" This fine precision instrument is dedicated to the scientists who so significantly expanded the frontiers of scientific knowledge by participating in the recent International Geophysical year ".

So, on December 16th 1958, JLC gave a set of the Geophysic Chronometers to the Commanders of the USS Nautilus and Skate.

The only problem is that it seems ( in fact, I'm not sure ...) that JLC engraved these 2 Geophysic with this Logo, but not on regular production Geophysic watches, but I only saw in the flesh 2 Geophysic, so I can't be sure of that.

As an Hommage to this event and era, JLC decided to engrave this symbolic Logo on the current Geomatic:



This logo is made in 14 carat Gold, and was used on all Geomatic watches, SS, Gold, round or Tonneau Shaped Cases.

Here is a closer picture of the Logo:



Needless to say that this specificity contributes a lot to the Charm and the interest of this watch.

It adds a part of History, of Imagination, of Adventure to this very elegant elegant Chronometer.

3/ The Case:

The first thing which jump to your attention, while amdiring a Géomatic, is the great elegance of the case.

The proportions are perfect, with a diameter of 36mm, and a thickness which could be estimated at around 8 or 9 mm.



When I think about the slogan of an ad, which referred to the Action Man's life, I'm not really sure the Géomatic was conceived for this use...

All is voluptous in this watch, the curves of the case, the long and thin lugs, the lack of bezel, which contributes to give an impression of bigger watch, the warm and domed plexy, the small signed crown which has harmonious proportions with the case...

Let's admire it in a detail.

The thin lugs and case:







The lack of bezel, which gives even more purity to the watch:



The Domed plexy, Warm, and very sexy:



The small signed crown, perfectly integrated to the case:



A magnificient Duo, in SS, and in Rose Gold:



Of course, on the wrist the feeling is very positive, comfortable, and nicely sized!



And I don't evenspeak of the pleasant feeling to wear a piece of History!

4/ The dial is an example of sobriety:



It announces proudly its virtue:



The layout is classic, with silver sunburst finish, applied indexes, some tritium pearls, baton hands with Tritium material, rectangular circled window date...

Yes, definitely a classic style!



On these macros, you will notice the perfect condition on this quite 50 years old dial:





The dial is slightly domed, too, which contributes to an interesting play of light on its sunburts silvered surface ( and a hell to take in picture, too ).

Sober, timeless, and very elegant, these are the main characteristics if this stunning dial, the soul of this watch.

Please not that it exists a rich variety of dials, Champagne or silver, Sun Ray or Sun Burst, Solid Gold or not, different stylised indexes too, dedicated to the YG, RG or SS Cases.

5/ The Cherry on the cake: The Packaging:.

For the Geophysic and the Géomatic, JLC showed some originality and creation in the packaging of these watches.

For the Geophysic, JLC opted for a box which looks like a Book you can put on a shelve.

For the Géomatic, the box is indeed original, and nicely decorated.



No, no, you don't dream...This is the IGY Logo, painted on the top of the box!



The shape of the box is particular, too:



This is something quite rare to find, indeed, as you can imagine my reaction when I saw this:



A bit like if you make a 45 years jump back, like if you just buy it from the JLC AD.

The thing I miss, and which is important, to me, on such a piece, is the Certificate of Chronometry, but I'm working to get one...

To close this topic, I'd say that this Geomatic belongs to a nice part of the JLC History, the Chronometers, with some sublime pieces like this one or the Geophysic, of course, and a weird, very 70ies looking one, the Chronometer housing the Cal 906:

Weird looking, yes, but not uniteresting at all, when you know that this Caliber was reworked by ..Vacheron Constantin for its ...Chronometre Royal!

Nowadays, the History goes on, in two ways.

- JLC will attend to the Chronometry Contest with the Master Tourbillon and the Gyrotourbillon II.

- The Grande Maison presented this year 2 pieces which make echo to the Past of Chronometry, the Master Grande Tradition Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon, and the Master Grande Tradition Minute Repeater, both receiving the appellation " 1000 Hours Chrono ", which represents severe chronometry tests.

Once again, the Past Belongs to the Present.

Best,

Nicolas

PS: Huge Thanks to the Heritage Gallery for some of the nice scans they provided to me for this review. This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-03-18 00:39:30 This message has been edited by Dje on 2009-03-23 04:52:23

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