Jaeger-LeCoultre

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When will "sexy" be cool again at JLC?

It wasn't too long ago that Jerome Lambert oversaw JLC, and with his hands at the helm, JLC had a string of watches that were down right SEXY.

Bold, brash, unashamed, SEXY.

The Extreme series, with shock-absorber cases and case-dependent strap/bracelet swap mechanisms were some of the coolest concepts to come out of the Vallee de Joux - EVER! I fully understand that at 46.3mm x 16mm they were too large for most men, but damn they were SEXY! World-timers coupled with chronographs, alarms and even a tourbillon were just not done by others. And just the way the Compressor water-proofing wingnut worked was so simple that it made screw-down crowns seem antiquated!

The 41.5mm Compressors, which were HUGE when they launched, but quickly became average-to-small in the SPORT WATCH category, were, none-the-less also VERY SEXY. There was the Dualmatic, the Memovox, the Geographic, and even a (yawn!) chronograph. The wingnuts and crowns at 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock had distinctive enough looks to be "signature" looks for JLC's sports line. The NAVY SEALS, with ceramic bezels and articulated rubber straps were beautiful AND SEXY and robust!

But the last 3 SIHHs were a bit of a let down, for me, and I'm a died-in-the-wool, die-hard fan of JLC! I don't simply consider them a good brand, I consider them one of the BEST in the entire industry!

Other than the Reverso "Tribute Calendar" and "Tribute Moon" models - which I think are both AWESOME, there hasn't really been anything else that made me scream, "I gotta get me one of those!"

And this year's Polaris launch...is "nice," but not mind-blowing, the way the Compressors were. I DO hope that they are successful, but I fear that JLC, like so many brands, is listening to the Asian market and forgetting about the US market, which is still largely untapped.

I was hoping that JLC would re-launch the Compressor line, but with updated sizing, like 43mm across the board, which seems to be the "sweet spot" of sports watches these days. There were so many updated dial options that could have been offered, along with cool new straps. I was secretly hoping JLC would re-launch the line with bracelets and straps combined in the new series, especially since the strap-swap seem so much more robust in the Compressors than say the VC Overseas.

And even in the Master Controls...there hasn't been anything SEXY in a few years. Sure, the Duometers, with the gray dial LEs is gorgeous, but out of reach for most mortals.

Please, Geoffrey, bring SEXY BACK!

Does anybody else in our community feel the way I do, or am I a lone voice in the wilderness?

-DEAN