Jaeger-LeCoultre

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In Support of Catulle

In defense of Catulle, (s)he makes a lot of sense..  I will state upfront that this is my first post on this forum, and given the anticipated hate mail the post will likely generate, may also be my last one.  But I digress.

1)   For those who need to know PRECISE time at their location, blackberry or timex is a much better, more reliable, and much cheaper solution

2)   Those who NEED tourbillon likely are unable to look at the watch for health reasons, and 99.99% of individuals do not need +/- 2 seconds precision.  Those who do, please refer to No. 1, above

3)   I have not yet come up with a real need for  a double-split chrono.  Instead of timing my poached eggs at an increments cost of 700 GBP, I can and do go out to get eggs 100 times for the same amount of money

4)   I quit howling at the moon a few weeks back and hence will not talk about the moon phase or equation of time pieces.

5)   Those who can afford a “reveil” watch usually can afford a hotel that will give them a wake-up call

6)   Anyone who recently timed their deco stop by the rotating bezel of NSD, please raise your hands –  and I rest my case for divers watches. 

Granted, some of the manufacturers stem from as early as the eighteenth century.  This does not necessarily mean that they are good, otherwise we would all be driving Panard-Levassors. None of the current high-end manufacturers are independent (barring UN and GP and a few others), and all of them have changed hands multiple times.  As time goes on and progress takes place, new designs are necessarily better, cheaper, and more precise.  Just like in the diamond business, a few high-end manufacturers control prices on watches through control of supply and a little bit of pixy dust of “history and tradition.”

Let’s face this.  Our wives buy rings and earrings – and our toys are watches.  We buy and wear high-end watches for the recognition they bring and the affluence they infer.  Once we recognize this, more things fall into place, and the tourbillon is no longer a useless ornament – it is an expression of our income compensating for our lack of taste and practicality.

I do have a few high-end watches, nothing more expensive than GBP15K per piece.  This is not because I need them – but because I want them and was ready to pay for them.  For same reason, I use a 650 beemer for my 9 mile, all-city-streets, round trip commute.

Now to NSD, NCS, and other NS pieces from JLC.  When I first saw this watch, I was certain this item would not be  a big seller:  clearly not a business watch, and too unrefined to be desired by those who can afford second and third haute horologerie pieces.  Boy, was I wrong!  With the pixy dust, smart placements and right pricing, it looks like this watch is selling well. 

Where I do disagree with Catulle, we all make our own choices on where to spend our money and what watches to wear, and what cars to drive.  If one desires to buy a Tourbillon Quantieme Perpetual – my hat is off to them, and I will not judge.

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