Watch of the Week: Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Seconds

Some watches are just created as a connoisseur’s delight, as is the case of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic True Seconds. When you are not a watch enthusiast, all you probably see is a pretty straight-forward designed, classical quartz watch. Watch connoisseurs see however an understated design anchored in time, fitted with a movement which alone makes this watch worth buying!

Jaeger-LeCoultre has always been a powerhouse when it came to creating movements. In many cases, they even supplied movements to very esteemed Swiss colleagues, and when you look at their overall history in movement construction and development, very few brands can even come close. Caliber 770, which powers the Geophysic True Seconds, is a prime example why this is the case.

First of all, it is fitted with the Gyrolab balance, which was first introduced into the Extreme LAB. Although Jaeger-LeCoultre ingeniously incorporated their logo into the design of the balance, the functional thought behind this is to reduce the surface space of the balance. This means that less air has to be moved, increasing efficiency. By putting a full bridge over the balance wheel, stability is also ensured. A more prominent feature of this movement is the “deadbeat” seconds hand, which jumps from second to second, like a quartz powered watch. Before the development of quartz watches, this was mainly used to increase precision, as it allowed for easy reading of the time down to the exact second. This “complication” lost most of its charm with the introduction of the quartz movement. However, for connoisseurs, this now offers an added delight to this type of mechanical movements.

The watch itself has a very close resamblance to the first Geophysic, which was launched in 1958 to celebrate the International Geophysical Year. This was build for science, precise and highly anti-magnetic. You also see this back in the design, which is all business and very functional. It is like a well-cut suit, by a tailor who knows what he is doing. Being a product of the late 1950’s is has passed the (overly) elegant lines of the early 1950’s, but not yet entered the era of bulky, over-the-top designs that ruled later in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

In today’s worlds, this design still works and works well. Jaeger-LeCoultre gave the Geophysic True Second the perfect size of 39.6mm and a height of 11.5mm. It gives the watch presence and substance without being overbearing, and that is exactly what many lovers of the deadbeat second’s complication are looking for in their watch!