Jaeger-LeCoultre

I am very close to buying this watch in SS. Any words of encouragement or caution?

I specifically want a travel watch and have looked at a lot or them.  I prefer this to the compressor GMT and the master control alternatives from an aesthetic point of view.

All comments are appreciated.

Thanks, Jeff

The Compressor Geographic is better suited as a reference to what time is is elsewhere in the world.  If you are looking for a watch to travel with, a GMT is a better option.  The Compressor Dualmatic would be my choice.  The ability to move the hour had independently backwards and forwards while having your home timezone on a third hand is the ideal method.  The reason I say the Geographic is not a travel watch is that you dial in the city you are looking for and that time is displayed on a small sub dial.  If you are in another time zone for an extended period, you will likely want that time displayed with the main dial.  To do this requires completely setting the watch, defeating the purpose of a GMT.

I love my Compressor Geographic, but when I travel I wear my Panerai 233, which is my only GMT watch.

The MC Geographic is the ONE that started it all for me just a few years ago.  It got me hooked on JLC and into watches for real, or should I say "real watches," to misuse JLC's marketing slogan. 

I ended up not getting the MC Geo and instead opted for the EWC, but that is my point here.  Different strokes for different folks, especially with regard to travel watches.  There has been a lot of discussion on this site about the various travel and GMT watches, and apparantly there is no perfect travel watch out there.  Gee, what a surprise!   So, the best thing to do is try on a bunch, study their respective features and decide for yourself which mechanisms work best for you.  And most importantly let your heart decide which watch sings to you.

For me it was the EWC, although many can lodge very valid critiques of its travel worthiness -- not that I care in the least about such critiques, becasue I love the watch.

That MC Geo is a great piece if you like the subdial second time zone layout.  This seems to me one of the most legible second-time zone watches around.  It must be a popular design as at least a couple of other majors brands employ the same JLC movement in watches with almost identical dial layouts.  Just sayin'.  The design is sporty for sure -- the dial, the size and the compressor keys -- and it is also distinctively JLC.  The water resistance is a nice feature if you are traveling with one watch and want to go swimming or snorkeling with it.  The city/time zone selector gives you something to play with on the plane.  It is just a great watch. I would still like to have one of my own.

JLC gives us many options for GMTs and second time zones, however.  So, you wil have many choices, but I suspect that if the MC Geo is speaking to you, this will be a fine choice.

Let us know what you choose. 

respo

Casey's assessment is entirely correct--JLC designed the Geo complication as a World Time watch, and JLC uses an entirely different movement and complication for their GMT watches, which are designed for travel. The former is for referencing time around the world quickly and easily while still in one's home timezone, the latter is to easily change the main dial time when traveling, while still keeping reference of one's home timezone.

Of course, you may pick whichever watch sings to you, and use it as you like. There are no rules. But there are important differences in the movements and complications. Traveling with the Geo and adjusting the time so that the main dial reads your local time is no different than traveling with a non-GMT watch of any kind--you must stop and reset every hand and date, thus potentially losing accuracy to reference time.

Respo mentions that other companies use the same movement/complication as the Geo--those companies include AP and VC, who source the movement from JLC. But they use what they can get, and JLC does not sell them their premier GMT movement, the 97x base found in all their GMT watches.

DJK

and I fully hope to own it one day soon. I prefer it on the bracelet, as I love JLC's adjustable clasp to tighten or loosen the band "on the fly." However, the points made regarding travel watches are valid. The Geographic and it's variations (save version 6, which I'll get to in a moment), were designed for someone in an office who is tracking other timezones, since the date is activated by the main time, and the world-timer is not date-linked at all. The Dualmatic or GMT do allow you to travel forwards or backwards across date lines, keeping the "home time" or reference time set on the hollow hand.
The Geographic version 6 is the Diving GMT (version 1: the original, released in 1989; version 2: the 1996 update - "Watch of the Year;"  version 3: the 2004 Compressor Geo; version 4: the 2005/6 "Harmonized" 40mm version; version 5: the Geographic World; version 6: the Diving GMT.

The Diving GMT has the movable city disc, but also allows you to advance or retard the hour hand on the main time, advancing or retarding the date. If you're patient, I imagine that version 7 will be right around the corner - if not this coming SIHH, maybe in 2012 (if the world is still here).

-Dean

This helps me think about it. I understand that the dualmatic or GMT are better for travelling and that is what the watch is (was) to be for, but I really want it because I like the way its aesthitics and that it has some functions to play with.  I lost my chrono (a lovely Breguet type xx) and am left without a watch toy as the rest are time only.  Also, I travel with a blackberry that gives me home and local time on the display...and then we can get into the entire debate about how useful a watch is in the modern world..and the fact that I am pretty good at subtracting 1 and most of my travel takes me to the next timezone.

No urgency, despite the boutique reminding me that there is only one in stock.  Hey, this is HK, I know where 10 other exapmples exist.

Anyway, thanks for the insights. I guess now I have more to ponder and can justify further delay of the gratification.

Will let you all know how it turns out.

Jeff

 

Hi
As in tittle - I love mine - so far its second year  I am wearing it - its in my opinion the most eye catching compressor - for a short moment I had dualmatic as well but geo won !!!

Although its pretty big watch its very comfortable to wear even on smaller wrist,  as well at least for me am/pm function - I have a lot of friends in time zone with 7 h difference is very useful- they are two possible scenarios - or you will love it or hate it  - but I think the first one







This message has been edited by rafalbar on 2010-08-10 15:36:51

Thats the advantage of Geo - it goes great with almost everything

My best

Rafal

I have the MC Geo, it's my favourite and gets lots of wrist time.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

IMHO it's the most aesthetically pleasing and interesting of the Compressor range.

Here are a couple of pics

I've had mine for three years now and still is one of my favorites .The watch just has a presence to it ! You really can't go wrong with this one Jeff !