Jaeger-LeCoultre

Does JLC do the 1000 hour test on time pieces when they go in for a complete overhaul?

The service center tells me
We perform a test that isn’t exactly a 1000 hour test, but is the exact equivalent during our quality control process and saves time in order not to hold a client’s piece for those amount of testing days which would be roughly a few weeks or so of testing if the 1000 hr. test were to be performed.

1 000 hours are something like 42 days... That's long!

Best,

Nicolas

Thanks Nicolas, for your response. It is then a misnomer to call it a 1000 hour test. I wonder though, how it is simulated?

jlc.watchprosite.com =

Good grief.

Re submit their watches to the COSC when they service them... I am not sure at all they do it, but I may be wrong...

Best,

Nicolas

Hi,

While I realize that the 1000 hours test is a major selling point for JLC buyers, I view it as more of a final step in the production and quality control process than a mandatory battery to be passed every single time the watch is serviced. Just like many certified chronometers from Rolex and Omega can be regulated back to that status during service, the JLC test indicates that the level of functional finish, grade of movement materials, and high accuracy *potential* is engineered into the watch and capable of being recaptured with competent servicing. It is far more difficult to take a poorly-built watch and regulate it to consistently excellent performance than it is to take an excellent design and return it to good service spec. 

I think the initial 1000 hours test merely confirms that the watch meets JLC's design spec and has the inherent potential to return to high performance with routine service. Certainly, we don't see a flood of reports of JLCs coming back from factory or even local watchmaker shops gaining or losing dozens of seconds per day, so the theory seems to hold up in practice.

Finally, to revisit the title of my message, don't underestimate JLC Texas. Having met a few watchmakers from that crew, I can confirm that they are a small studio of 5-6 professionals, not an assembly line, and the work is performed to factory standards *at bare minimum*. Indeed, given the range of JLC's 1000 hours timing tolerances that Nicolas has attributed to the various models of the product line, I can vouch for the fact that the Texas team often looks to beat those 1000 hour test tolerances - by a large margin - for every watch that passes through the U.S. service center.

-Tim

My master perpetual is being serviced there as I write this. I will post back experiences about the service experience and also about how well thee timeepiece keeps time.

do NOT send them back to COSC after a service. They usually put it on Witschi machine and regulate it to +2 or 3 seconds/day.

-Dean

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If I'm not mistaken, it is Vivek who asked the service center if the Master 1000 Hours test is performed and someone there replied with a slight no whereas they should have given a firm no to avoid any confusion. It would be wrongful of them indeed if they give the impression that the Master 1000 Hours test is performed after an overhaul.

Ruckdee

Hi,

Certainly, nobody I have spoken to at JLC Texas has implied or claimed that the 1000 hours test is repeated there. However, they have claimed to shoot for performance that would put the watches well within published COSC performance parameters if measured against that standard. 

My experience with their work on my own pieces supports this claim, so you can feel pretty good about having a watch serviced with them. 

Let's keep this thread in mind and revisit it once vivek's watch returns.  He can time it for a few days against an online atomic reference and give us an update on how Texas is performing. It would be an interesting reference for those who face the question of whether to service stateside.

Best,

-Tim

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The watch is back from the service center. However, the presentation was pretty bad. The watch was randomly wrapped up in bubble wrapped and stuffed into a box and that UPS box was simply floating around in a larger box! No polishing cloth nothing! The watch itself was not running. After handling the watch for sometime is sprang to life. 

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Hello All,

I didn't get around to consistently wearing my watch and keeping it on a winder till now. I find that the watch consistently loses 8 seconds a day with mixed use (wearing, winder). I have been tracking time against www.time.gov v

Is such a deviation considered normal or should I send the watch back for adjustment.

thanks,
vivek

No message body This message has been edited by amanico on 2015-02-12 22:02:37

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If it is regularly at -8 per day, it is not a problem. You give it to set it a bit faster.

Best,

Nicolas

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Thanks! I typically can tolerate a max of 3 secs a day

Better than the COSC: -4 / +6 secs per day.

Best,

Nicolas

This is what they are telling me. The watch is in ther hands as we speak;

According to the Swiss Master Watchmaker, he advised your Jaeger LeCoultre Master Perpetual Timepiece is losing 8 seconds a day with is within factory specifications.  

Is there anything I can do to have them time it to a closer tolerance? I just paid 1600 to have it serviced by JLC  10 months ago.  My old memovox seems to be more true to time!

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Hi,

Since we're discussing JLC service, and this topic has surfaced several times, it seems that many questions arise concerning factory service... with surprisingly few hard facts available. This isn't unique to JLC, but the brand is our focus on this forum and my personal passion as a collector. JLC also is the basis for my recent service experiences, and I will be posting a comprehensive review of that experience on this board once my final watch returns.

The short take is that my experience with JLC has been excellent. I have a wonderful relationship with a local authorized dealer who helped me navigate the process and kept lines of communication open. My service request included a colossal six watches that I brought for full overhauls on the same day in the interest of creating a single "starting point" from which to measure each one's interval between services. The watches included my Master Ultra Thin 34mm, Duometre a Chronograph, Master Compressor Extreme World Alarm, Reverso Duo Night and Day, Master Grande Memovox, and my Amvox2.

The service requests were as varied as the models: one restoration, two warranty requests (one cosmetic, one mechanical), and three routine overhauls. Each of the Le Sentier and Forth Worth service centers handled at least two of these watches, so both major service centers for North American customers addressed my requests and made me privy to their standards and time tables for completion.

The insights gained from this unusually large and varied service request are too valuable and - judging by the lack of first-hand info on the board - too uncommon to keep private. I plan to focus on what was requested for each watch, what was proposed by the factory service, what I elected to perform, the exact center that serviced each watch, the time tables for each watch's return (remember, all were submitted on the same day), and my degree of satisfaction with the results. Significantly, I have access to a top-flight Witschi motorized and articulated chronoscope that has been used to quantify and document the performance of each watch post-service, so exact numbers will be provided with my report.

With the exception of noting that all watches were offered a factory polish at no additional cost, I'm not going to focus on the price of the work, but I'm more than willing to PM that information to any interested parties. After all, I can understand that there may be interest in that subject given the number of complications and models that my service request encompassed. Overall, I felt that quotes for the work were fair and appropriate.

Nicolas, when the time for the review arrives, I would like to name and properly credit my JLC AD who helped to guide me through the process, so would that comply with the forum guidelines for conduct? I'm looking forward to sharing this experience once I can truly say that the book is "closed" on the matter. Oh, yes, there will be photos...

Best,

Tim
This message has been edited by Tim_M on 2015-03-20 18:11:36

And, for once, no problems in naming your AD since he is an important part of the process.

Best,

Nicolas