JLC Geophysic "Cross Hair" Dial Mystery

To say that the " Cross Hair " dial is a mystery is an euphemism.

Most of the Geophysics we know are coming with this dial:



Applied 12 and 6, as well as 5 minutes index markers, available in gold ( Ref dial 8067 / 5 ) or in stainless steel ( Ref dial 8067 / 9 ).

Here, in a stainless steel Geophysic:



This dial has been drawed first, on the 13th of January... 1957. Let's keep in mind that the Ref case E 168 was in production as soon as 1958, till 1961.

This version is also well known because it features in some documents, booklets, catalogs, and advertisings.

As well as another Geophysic, the Deluxe, Ref case 2985, which is shown in the Geophysic Brochure, in production for two years, only ( 1958-1959 ) for a total of 103 pieces.

The technical document of the dial ( Ref 8068 / 1 ) first drawed on the 13th of December 1957.



The Geophysic De Luxe:



Now, let's examine the most mysterious of the Geophysics, the " Cross Hair " dials.

We saw a few Geophysic using this dial, mostly in stainless steel, and only twice in colored gold.

I've searched in all the catalogs of the era, from 1958 to 1961, and I didn't find any evidence of its existence.

Same outcome with the advertisings I could find. The only Geophysics I could find were those with the dial reference 8067 and 8068.

Which is strange, as on the few I could see, I noticed that the case was the same ( E 168 ) than the one coming with the dial reference 8067, and pictured below:









And the inimitable case back:



The Yellow Gold Geophysic " Cross Hair " Dial, which is, as the stainless steel version, the property of the Heritage Gallery, and shown in the book " La Grande Maison ":



I contacted the Heritage Gallery and asked them if they found something in their documents, advertisings, catalogs, brochures.... They came back to me with the same negative outcome... Well, almost, as they found one interesting information, a technical drawing of this dial...

Let me introduce you the mighty 8085 ( its reference dial ) :



I started to wonder, before seeing this drawing, if this dial was not a service dial, which would explain that it is not featured in any " communication " document, but a detail tends to demonstrate that it is not the case.

Indeed, if you refer to the date of the initial drawing, it is written 14th of January 1958. A service dial would have probably been produced later.

The Heritage Gallery showed me something very interesting, a new old stock Cross Hair Dial!

As you can see, the conception of the dial is the same than the ref 8067, with this " skirt ", the same finish, made of soft swedish iron ( for amagnetic purposes ), only the design of the " face " of the dial changes.

The dial side:



The hidden side:



The diameter of the dials ref 8085 and 8067 is the same: 2, 85 cm. While the dial of the Geophysic De Luxe is a tad bigger: 3 cm, when its case is one millimete smaller ( 34 mm ).

Let's remind, too, that the only Geophysic which is not amagnetic is the De Luxe, but all three are Chronometers.

To be precise and complete, the Cross Hair dials came in stainless steel with the reference dial 8085/ 9, and in yellow gols, with the reference 8085/ 5.

The Heritage Gallery doesn't have track of the number of Geophysic Cross Hair made, which means that they are included in the production of the E 168 ( 1038 in stainless steel, 222 in yellow gold ), without any other precision.

We can only guess, from what we have seen during these years of watch collecting, that the Cross Hair is much less " common " than the " normal " Geophysic.

Best,

Nicolas. This message has been edited by amanico on 2013-09-19 22:44:01 This message has been edited by amanico on 2013-09-23 03:21:00