Photo Credit: coins-jewelry-collectibles
1963 Mystery Dial LeCoultre Galaxy Watch with Diamonds
Asking Price: $1,230.25 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This solid 14 karat white gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Galaxy wristwatch features a mystery dial packed with 37 diamonds and a 17-jewel, manual-wind K480/CW movement.
-This watch measures 34.3 mm (1.35 inches) in diameter (including the crown) and 38 mm (1.50 inches) long from lug tip to lug tip. It is also only 9.4 mm (0.37 inches) thick, which would have qualified it as an “ultra-thin” watch for the time (although not close to the thinnest models available).
-Jaeger-LeCoultre produced some of the world’s most stylish, technically accomplished mechanical wristwatches between the 1940s and the 1970s. Because of this, the company’s old watches often draw strong premiums in the marketplace from its devoted collector base.
-This Jaeger-LeCoultre Galaxy features a mystery dial. A mystery dial is any watch where the hands seem to move in an inscrutable way. In this case, the diamond hour and minute hands appear to float around the dial completely detached from the watch’s underlying movement.
-Founded in 1833 in Le Sentier, Switzerland, Jaeger-LeCoultre grew into a watchmaking powerhouse by the late 19th century. Between the 1940s and 1976, Jaeger-LeCoultre exported its finished movements to the U.S. where they were locally cased and then sold under the “LeCoultre” brand.
-This LeCoultre Galaxy mystery dial watch is quadruple signed! It bears the LeCoultre name or logo on the dial, the movement, the case and also the crown.
-During the mid-20th century, Jaeger-LeCoultre teamed up with Vacheron & Constantin to distribute watches in North America. In fact, some vintage watch experts consider the Galaxy model to have been jointly-produced by Vacheron & Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre for the U.S. market.
-This Jaeger-LeCoultre mystery dial Galaxy wristwatch still retains its original, unrefinished dial. The dial is in fairly good condition too, which is a big plus for watch enthusiasts.
-The LeCoultre Galaxy watch was an upscale luxury model produced from the late 1950s until the mid 1960s. As befits a luxury watch, it was cased in solid 14 karat gold, solid 18 karat gold or stainless steel.
-Vintage solid karat gold dress watches from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are incredibly undervalued in today’s horological market, especially when compared to vintage dive and chronograph watches. It is ludicrous that you can purchase this vintage luxury watch by a storied European maker for only $1,230 when it probably contains 1/5 of an ounce of gold (worth about $300 at today’s spot price).
Cons:
-If you purchase this vintage masterpiece you will need to have the movement serviced and the strap replaced. I’m going to guess that this will run you an extra $250 to $500 (assuming no major issues are found), which would drive the total price of the watch up to somewhere between $1,480 and $1,730. But even at the higher price range, this LeCoultre mystery dial Galaxy wristwatch is still a bargain. I’ve seen similar, pre-serviced models selling for $2,200 to $3,000.
-The seller doesn’t show a photo of the watch’s movement, but does claim that it still keeps time. I wouldn’t expect the movement to be in perfect condition, but it would be nice to see a picture just to make sure it isn’t a rusty mess. Having said that, I don’t think the watch would run at all if the movement was excessively rusty, so a photo would just be for verification purposes.
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