Alexander
117
"Handled" the Antoine LeCoultre today.....
in Platinum. The first thing that strikes you is the weight. It is incredibly heavy, by far the heaviest JLC I have ever handled.
Apart from that, the dial looks much better in the flesh. Having seen pictures in the press, I was a little disappointed with the dial layout (date on the left, oversize sub seconds dial, Times font etc.), but it does look quite appealing, actually. The day/night indicator is a bit unremarkable, though.
The movement was a bit of a let-down;
1) There seemed to be inconsistent application of anglage (none on one edge of the balance cock).
2)"geneve" striping has not translated well to the "sunburst" pattern - the sumptuous creamy finish (especially apparent on the new reverso tourbillon) seems to have been diluted. Overall, it looked a bit dull and lifeless. Maybe this is because the plates are rhodinated/gold plated?
3) The balance wheel is very small. Not really a bad thing, I guess 8 days of reserve requires a lot of space:-)
4)The movement has 3 "floors". Very difficult to explain this; there is a large dip in one bridge for the escape wheel, and a raised bridge (signed "ALC"). Once again, just a bit awkward IMO...
6)On the plus side, taken as a whole, it's still an enchanting and unique movement.
Honestly though, I don't think the MALC would be near the top of my list, especially at the ?20k/$30k RRP.....I'd be looking at parmigiani/breguet/patek instead.
Just my two cents. All criticism welcome!
Dynamic Turtle
