Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this watch, you know, the Jaeger-LeCoultre JLC Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar. It’s supposed to be a classic, right? I wanted to see what the fuss was all about and if I could make something kinda like it myself. A little DIY project, just for fun.
First off, I grabbed some basic tools I had lying around. Nothing fancy, just enough to take things apart and put them back together. I got this old watch that’s about 39mm across and pretty slim, just like the real deal, the thickness around 9.4mm. It’s got these lugs that are about 45.7mm from one end to the other. I figured that was a good starting point.
- Started by taking the old watch apart. Carefully, of course, I didn’t want to break anything important.
- Cleaned all the parts. There was a lot of gunk in there, you wouldn’t believe it.
- Then, I tried to make the case look a bit more like the Jaeger-LeCoultre one. I polished the top part, the lugs, and the back of the case. I don’t have fancy machines, so it was all elbow grease. It’s not perfect, but it looks shinier now. And this case that I’m using is about 40mm and it’s like 10.95mm thick.
Now, here’s where it got tricky. The real Jaeger-LeCoultre has this complicated movement inside that handles the perpetual calendar. I’m not even going to pretend I can recreate that. Instead, I focused on making the outside look the part. I know the company used the name “LeCoultre” until 1985, and then it became “Jaeger-LeCoultre.” It is cool to know the history behind it.
I found some pictures online of the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar. It looks super sleek. I tried to copy some of that design onto the watch face. Again, not perfect, but it’s starting to resemble it a bit. It was like, they have launched new watches in Watches Wonders 2024. I guess it should be some new styles or new looks. But I just followed the classic style.
After a lot of tinkering, I finally put the whole thing back together. Does it look exactly like a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar? Nope. But does it look kinda like it? Yeah, I think so. It was a fun little project, and I learned a lot about how these watches are put together.
What I learned:
- Watches are complicated! Especially the ones with all those fancy features.
- Polishing stuff by hand is hard work.
- It’s fun to take things apart and try to make them better, even if you fail sometimes.
So, that’s my little watch project. It’s not going to fool any experts, but it’s a neat little thing I made myself. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll try to make a real perpetual calendar. But for now, I’m happy with my little imitation.
What’s Next?
I think I might try to make a custom strap for it next. Maybe some leatherwork or something. That could be cool, right? I don’t know, we’ll see. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little story about my watch tinkering.