Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this watch thing again, trying to get a decent imitation of the Jaeger-LeCoultre JLC Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique. It’s a mouthful, I know, but trust me, the watch is something else. Let me tell you, it’s been quite the journey.
First off, I started by digging into what makes this watch tick, literally. I found out that the original is a platinum beauty, 42mm, and it’s limited to just 180 pieces. Yeah, it’s as fancy as it sounds. There is some info on this watch online. So, I started looking at what I could find to match that.
I spent hours, and I mean hours, looking at different parts. I needed to find a good case, and let me tell you, finding a decent case is harder than it sounds. I looked at this one case, then another, and another. Finally, I found one that was close enough in size and style. It wasn’t platinum, but it had a nice weight and feel to it.
- Then came the movement.
- Oh boy, the movement.
The Movement
I knew I couldn’t get the exact same tourbillon cylindrique movement, but I wanted something that at least looked the part. I browsed through a ton of different movements, some cheap, some not so cheap. I ended up picking one that had a similar look, with a rotating thingamajig that kinda resembled a tourbillon. It wasn’t perfect, but it did the job.
The dial was next. I tried to find one that matched the original’s clean, classic look. I went through a bunch of different options, printed a few out myself, and finally settled on one that looked pretty good. It had the right markers, the right layout, and it fit the case perfectly.
Putting it all together was a whole other story. I had all these tiny parts, and I had to be super careful not to mess anything up. I used my tweezers, my little screwdrivers, and a whole lot of patience. I put the movement in the case, attached the dial, and then the hands. It was like doing surgery, but on a watch.
After a lot of trial and error, I finally got it all assembled. I wound it up, and it started ticking. It wasn’t a Jaeger-LeCoultre, but it was my little creation, and it looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I even wore it around for a day, and nobody could tell the difference, at least not from a distance.
So, there you have it. That’s my adventure in trying to imitate the Jaeger-LeCoultre JLC Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique. It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. And now I have a cool-looking watch to show for it, even if it’s just a “quote” of the real thing.
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