LeCoultre Quartermaster ? watch for connoisseurs (AWW 54)

LeCoultre Quartermaster - watch for connoisseurs (AWW 54)

Specifications

Name: LeCoultre Quartermaster
Movement: Manual movement, caliber K831/CW, 17 jewels, 18,000 bph, No. 1328245
Time display: 24 hour, minute, seconds,
Date: no date
Case: all stainless steel with screw on back
Size: 34 mm diameter without crown, 36 mm with crown, lug to lug 40 mm
Height: 9 mm
Face: matte silver dial with silver Arabic numeral and dagger hour-markers, 24 on top
Hands: silver luminous baton hands, sweep seconds
Text on dial: LeCoultre - QUARTERMASTER
Text on back: WATER PROOF - ANTI MAGNETIC - SHOCKBILT - LIFETIME MAIN SPRING - ALL STAINLESS STEEL
Water-resistance: waterproof
Crown: main crown at 3
Crystal: domed acrylic crystal
Lugs: 18 mm
Bracelet: leather strap with buckle

Foreword

Most 24h watches are "middle class", a niche models usually ignored by most of luxury watch brands. One of the few exceptions is LeCoultre Quartermaster.
If you are interested in Jaeger-LeCoultre watches, then best source is JLC forum.

As bromman wrote:

To research and collect JLC is a treasure hunt! You never know what you will find around the next corner... Not sure if any other Manufacturer produced that many different watches like the one from Vallée de Joux!

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Another good sentence by bromman about Quartermaster watch:

Despite the "military look", you might say that this is a watch for a connoisseur.

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That's right!

Comments

Why only LeCoultre? JLC made some watches exclusively for American market under shorter brand name LeCoultre.

One main source on JLC is www.classicwatch.com, run by Zaf Basha, containing also vintage JLC forum. A book by Zaf Basha, "Jaeger-LeCoultre: a guide for the collector", is an excellent reference source.

That is what Zaf Basha has to say about this watch:

The LeCoultre Quartermaster is a wonderful example of a highly collectible U.S. market watch that has never sold in the European market. It is the only vintage LeCoultre product with a true 24 hour movement. The hands make only one rotation per day and the time is read in "military time". All observed examples have been in stainless steel with either a white or black dial. The movement caliber K831/CW is unique to the watch and was made in only 2,500 examples between 1957 and 1958.

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Almost nothing is documented about LeCoultre Quartermaster.

adonysn:

I see so many advsertising of any JLC models in the past so they must have a good marketing team. I'm wondering what might be the reason for no documentation or advertisement at all for this particular model, considering this just not a common type of watch. This is the only true 24 hour dial LeCoultre.
Perhaps the following can be the reason of no Ads, no documentation, limited 2500 pcs, no original price tag known?
Quartermaster is not a profession that has strong appeal for marketing purpose, compared to say Master Mariner (advertised with the ship's Master or the Captain pictures).
LeCoultre Quartermaster was created as limited edition for limited group of people/professionals only (the QM's) and never offered to regular market by LeCoultre America.
Or it's simply the 24 hour dial was not that interesting during that time, although it's a collector items nowadays.

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Note: In US Navy (Wikipedia):

The quartermaster is the enlisted member in charge of the watch-to-watch navigation and the maintenance, correction, and preparation of nautical charts and navigation publications. He or she is also responsible for navigational instruments and clocks and the training of ship's lookouts and helmsmen. On U.S. Navy submarines, the job of a quartermaster is done by a qualified navigation electronics technician.

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Quartermaster arrived in 1957 together with other much more well-known LeCoultre watch Master Mariner. Here you see how similarly designed they are, same family.

Quite often you can see Quartermasters in sale. The price is almost always over 2000 EUR. But if you wait enough long time, even three digit price is possible, believe me. I got mine in January 2016.

Quartermaster is small, 34 mm diameter, lug to lug 40 mm. My wrist is 18 cm (7"), so it is OK. I have a whole collection of vintage 24 watches, most of them in this size. They all wear well and look like a nice vintage utility watches. Quartermaster looks like a jewellery on your wrist. Remember, a watch for connoisseur. I can't get in on the picture, the dial is shining and sparkling in sunshine, is showing class!

I'm lucky and got my Quartermaster in a very good shape for a watch of this age. Not flawless, of course. There is a crack in crystal and usage marks on case back. I got it without box and papers. See my following post somewhere below with pictures of Quartermaster in full package.

The dial of Quartermaster has absolutely unique design. When you see it once, you never mix it with some other watch.
Legibility is absolutely fine. Hands are correctly sized and lumed. I have no idea when (if at all) the watch was serviced, but hands lumination still works and watch is keeping time!

My watch has aftermarket leather strap, not signed. Case and movement are signed. Letters GF on the caseback is probably the previous owner.

From design and technical standpoint everything is absolutely OK, nothing more to say. I like the watch and wear it quite often.

Afterword

One of the crown jewels of my collection. I wish you luck to find your own Quartermaster.

What needs extra explanation is variability of Quartermaster exteriors. When I first started to follow Quartermaster offers it looked to me like every watch was unique, different from other Quartermasters. After collecting all known pictures in web of some dozen Quartermasters, I'm risking to present Quartermaster typology to you, to help distinguish original versions from refurbished and modified ones. Read my next post below.