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Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber P478 Help

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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Hello everyone 

My name is Doreen and I’m new to this forum.

I’m very happy I found this forum as I’m impressed with all the useful information and with all the interesting posts and images. 

I recently purchased a vintage JAEGER LE COULTREcaliber P478, movement serial number 370849, case reference number 310477, case dimensions without the crown 33.5mm with blue hands.

Dial has the SWISS on the bottom along with a beautiful vintage patina; some dirt and dust.

I will attach some images for your reference and hopefully I will get some help identifying this beautiful watch. I don’t have many knowledge about this particular brand”JLC”.

I’m interested to know as many information as possible like: year, if the dial, hands, crown are all original and belong to this particular model.

I’m also wondering if this particular model is a desirable one to add to a small watch colección.

I don’t even know if I paid to much for this one $550. I’ve seen this model selling for about $2000, of course that doesn’t mean that is the  real value of the watch.

The movement is very dirty; I have to clean it and oiled soon. Also I intend to “clean”a little bit the dirt and dust from the dial. Any suggestions on how I should address this? I’m thinking on trying with a little bit of warm water and some q-tips and go very gently over the dirt and dust; perhaps just tapping slowly not rubbing. I will definitely not touch the old lume from the numbers or the hands.

The Case looks not polished for my unprofessional eye also the crown looks original but again, not sure.

 

Many many thanks to all who can provide some information...very much appreciated.

 

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Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

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JLC is an excellent brand considered as high end, the movement you got in-house production of 50s and 60s is a true work horse.

 Avoid removing thee min wheel. The selector fork is a culprit, so as a collector watch out for a spare to go with the watch.

Dial plate back looks suspecious, crowns are signed, the pieces should be four times signed I think.

Good luck

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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A lot of times with the Swiss companies with the more expensive watches they keep historical data. At the bottom of the page at the link below You can request an extract from their archives.

Then for dial cleaning you can do a search it's come up before usually it's bad to try to clean a dial. They're not designed to be washed for the most part. Gently brushing with a soft brush is okay anything resembling fluids is usually bad.

 

https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us/en/customer-services/customer-care-watches.html

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

JLC is an excellent brand considered as high end, the movement you got in-house production of 50s and 60s is a true work horse.

 Avoid removing thee min wheel. The selector fork is a culprit, so as a collector watch out for a spare to go with the watch.

Dial plate back looks suspecious, crowns are signed, the pieces should be four times signed I think.

Good luck

I’ve seen a few identical ones with the same caliber and the same dial design having the same exact unsigned crown. To see an unsigned crown in my opinion is not unusual especially back in 40’s, 50’s.

Same with the dial, I’ve seen one with the exact unusual back. I was searching online and I actually found an identical watch like mine with a very close serial number to be dated from 1945-1946. 

I’m just hoping that maybe somebody with a more professional experience than mine will correct me if I’m wrong.

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HSL Distinguished Member

HSL

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1 hour ago, Doreen said:

I’ve seen a few identical ones with the same caliber and the same dial design having the same exact unsigned crown. To see an unsigned crown in my opinion is not unusual especially back in 40’s, 50’s.

Same with the dial, I’ve seen one with the exact unusual back. I was searching online and I actually found an identical watch like mine with a very close serial number to be dated from 1945-1946. 

I’m just hoping that maybe somebody with a more professional experience than mine will correct me if I’m wrong.

I guess you done some research already and I think you are quite right about the state of your watch, it is in near original state and if you send the data to Jaeger they will probably confirm the case number and caseback number match.
You also with high probability found the correct year too since a couple of "confirmed" 478:s from 1945 (Post war) has a serial number in the spann from 35XXXX to 39XXXX.
I would be careful with that dial because it already seems to be cleaned, one can see the middle part is lighter than the outer parts. To get it in a better state would require a very delicate handling.

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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I just finished cleaning the dial and I’ve done a little bit of restoration too on the black painted “dots” on top of the numbers. If you take a look on the first image, that is the one “before” and the last on is”after”. The dial had a scratch on the black markers”dots” along the half of the dial from number 12 all the way to 5-6. Perhaps from the minute hands that was probably touching the dial.

I’m quite pleased with the results. Also I’ve finished to clean the hands too. Pleased with that result too. Tomorrow I will start working on the movement. 

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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5 hours ago, Gpsluvr said:

You can find a lot of history with a search on lecoultre. Jaeger joined later. I saw a good basic article on them that was mainly regarding the Reverso models and how they came to be. It was published a couple of days ago.

https://www.govbergwatches.com/blog/history-jaeger-le-coultre-reverso/



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Very interesting and I useful historical information about the brand I found on that site unfortunately nothing about this particular model I have. Thank you 

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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5 hours ago, HSL said:

I guess you done some research already and I think you are quite right about the state of your watch, it is in near original state and if you send the data to Jaeger they will probably confirm the case number and caseback number match.
You also with high probability found the correct year too since a couple of "confirmed" 478:s from 1945 (Post war) has a serial number in the spann from 35XXXX to 39XXXX.
I would be careful with that dial because it already seems to be cleaned, one can see the middle part is lighter than the outer parts. To get it in a better state would require a very delicate handling.

Thank you for your response. Quite pleased to find out that my guess was “not far away” from reality. 

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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30 minutes ago, Doreen said:

I just finished cleaning the dial and I’ve done a little bit of restoration too on the black painted “dots” on top of the numbers. If you take a look on the first image, that is the one “before” and the last on is”after”. The dial had a scratch on the black markers”dots” along the half of the dial from number 12 all the way to 5-6. Perhaps from the minute hands that was probably touching the dial.

I’m quite pleased with the results. Also I’ve finished to clean the hands too. Pleased with that result too. Tomorrow I will start working on the movement. 

7EC52B47-BF10-4EC4-96C8-2E4BD74698EA.jpeg

6E8E4C28-5309-4A1F-A057-81987DCC2BE0.jpeg

89DD99B1-FE8B-4299-88FA-783FEE47272E.jpeg

75C2F9BF-7B28-44F3-8CA1-274E7E0020B7.jpeg

I’m happy I was able to bring back to life the blue color from the hands without affecting the old radium. Everything is now intact and ready for another “spin in time”.

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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10 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

A labour of love,  anything in the watch repair or refurbishment takes time and patience  well done.

You are perfectly right...it takes patience, time and love. The secret ingredients...thank you for your kind words.

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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10 hours ago, watchweasol said:

A labour of love,  anything in the watch repair or refurbishment takes time and patience  well done.

You are perfectly right...it takes patience, time and love. The secret ingredients...thank you for your kind words.

image.jpg

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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I also finished cleaning the movement.

I hate it now on my timegrapher. The beat error is to high 2.2, that has to be correct too.

low amplitude 183.

I ordered a new mainspring that will arrive soon.

I will change the mainspring too.

I will keep you posted after the proper correction are made.

DE47322B-A762-4F92-8054-B45AB0C028C2.jpeg

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Brutus Watch Enthusiast

Brutus

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I noticed the hair spring was a little bit twisted. I ajuste a little bit one of the coils that was not parallel with the line curve.

After adjustments it is a little bit better on the timegrapher now. Now the amplitude is a little better. I’m sure it will increase after I install the new mainspring.

I still have to put the watch in correct beat.

 

 

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