E168 Jaeger Lecoultre Geophysic

Antimagnetic or scientist’s watches are a long overlooked, often beautiful collecting category. A trend during the mid-century, when science was the way forward, these were usually a halfway-stop between a dress/three-handed and tool watch aesthetic. Patek Philippe had the Amag, Rolex had the Milgauss, Omega had the Railmaster. Yet, one of the earliest Antimagnetic offerings is often criminally overlooked: Jaeger Lecoutlre’s Geophysic ref. E168.

1958 was both JLC’s 125th and something known as the International Geophysical Year. IGY, as it was known, was an international science project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958, chosen as it was the peak of that solar cycle (19) and happened to collide with 1958. This celebration of science had 67 nations participating in scientific exploration. On the surface, the event was created to celebrate the Earth sciences of airglow, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, gravity, ionospheric physics, longitude and latitude determinations, meteorology, oceanography, seismology, and solar activity. Under the surface, the IGY marked the end of the Cold War’s scientific stalemate, one of the first large public scientific exchanges between East and West since the nuclear age. This seemed like the ideal time for JLC to debut their scientist’s watch. So JLC presented 2 to US Navy Nuclear Submarine Captains. Marketing was cooler then.

The result is a rare beast. About 1000 examples were made. The case is an angular 35mm, steel, and lovely. Its dial is a very vintage cross hair with, interestingly, radium pips applied to the rehaut not dial. That’s actually pretty smart when you think about it. Inside is a chronometer certified calibre with hacking seconds, a swan neck regulator, and excellent shock resistance. And of course, there's a an iron shield and thick dial plate for ~500 Gauss resistance. It’s Calatrava-meets-ultilitarian from the Cold War.

 The original set with its Sputnik-shaped case, which is too cool to not include a photo of. Even if this example doesn't have its set. 

These are fine beasts and beautifully vintage three-handers. When one considers one of the most perfect 6541 Milgausses selling at 2.2M CHF, this is an astonishing value by comparison. These trade hands usually near 65K USD for great examples. This one is coming up to auction and there’s actually a surprising amount of data as this exact example has auctioned three times via Phillips, first in 2016 from the original family for 68K CHF. Then again in 2019 for 50K CHF. Finally, it’s coming back in the upcoming to the Phillips NYC sale now again. And it’s no less lovely.