amanico
[JLC Moderator]
341682
Ref E 333, the first water resistant watch from Jaeger Lecoultre.
In 2011, during a visit at the Manufacture, the curator of the Heritage Gallery showed me this Watch.
I had the opportunity to see another E 333, in Paris. With a different dial and another set of hands, which are full blued, and not filled with luminous.
The E 333 is the first to receive the E prefix, which stands for " Etanche " / Waterproof, in English. Here, we are circa 1939.
The first to have a screw in case back, then. While some had a screw in crown, or not.
The crown is slightly over sized, as you can see here.
When removing the case back, I had the surprise to discover a dust cover, above the movement.
Some pictures of the Cal 438, beating Inside.
Quite nice to see, despite a moderate lovel of decoration. Sensual bridges, some bevels, but no Geneva Waves.
Ok, Jaeger Lecoultre is not the first to have offered water resistant watches, since Rolex did it at least 10 years before, and communicated through Mercedes Gleitze and the fact that she crossed the Channel with her Rolex Oyster on her wrist, in 1929.
But this is an important Watch for a vintage JLC lover, as this is the first " E " of the kind.
In the last 4 years, this is only the second I saw. And when doing a research on the net, I only saw another one. Certainly not the kind of Watch you see everyday!
Best,
Nicolas
This message has been edited by amanico on 2015-09-10 01:35:44
More posts:
Ref E 333, the first water resistant watch from Jaeger Lecoultre.
In 2011, during a visit at the Manufacture, the curator of the Heritage Gallery showed me this Watch. I had the opportunity to see another E 333, in Paris. With a different dial and another set of hands, which are full blued, and not filled with luminous....
Very nice case design ...
Nicolas, If you don't state that this watch is from 1939 I could guess that is from the 70's! Thanks for another educative post. Cheers, Nilo
I agree with Nilo. I would never have thought this watch was from the 30's. Clearly fits
with great 70's / late 60's design. Lecoultre was way ahead of their time with the case visuals. Thanks for the post Nico!
Thx, very nice pictorial !.. Like the Tonneau (sort of) shape.. :))
Guess, would go for No 2. One tends to forget, how long water tightness is around, but your point is well taken, that Rolex was way before that.. Thx for this charming share, Cheers & Best, hs
Yes, Rolex was circa 10 years before that one, with the Oyster.
A pleasure to share them, my friend. Thanks for looking. Best, Nicolas
Sorry to derail....
....your post on such an interesting watch, Nico. I think the Depollier cases started around the end of WW1.
Nice one Nico...
... its's always a pleasure to learn about the history of the Manufacture! All the best, Etienne
First water-proof references are E3 and E5
When it comes to E for 'etanche' references. See page 98 Artcurial theme auction '170 years of JLC' catalog from 2003. ;) I.
The rectangular ones? In the ad they say that the case back is in 2 parts...
For a better water resistance... It seems that the tonneau watch I showed is the firt JLC to have a screw in case back + crown... Any more infos on that, Ilja? Best, Nicolas
Some input...
But first I need to correct you, the movement used for the 333 is not 438. 438 is a rectangular movement and the last evolution step of 11U, Your shown round Etanche watches house most likely a cal. 9" (Paris Lignes) later called 408 and derivates. The re...
I hesitated a lot as you know...
This E333 has a lot of charm for sure, it is really part of JLC history, and to finish this one has a wonderful patina. I am usually quite ok with moderate size watches with my small wrist and I know that it was quite ok at that time but I found it really...
