Mar 14

Mar 14 The 1960's LeCoultre Master Mariner 1200

Talking About Watches, Talking Watches, Watch Stories, Watch Reviews, Watch Videos, Vintage Watches

Jaeger LeCoultre is a brand that might be unknown to some, but is at the forefront of many of the innovations that have occurred in watchmaking. During their early years, they were known for creating movements for brands like Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe who would then use the movements to finish them for their watches. The brand eventually expanded into selling watches in USA, and sold those watches under the name LeCoultre.

The watch you are looking at today is the Master Mariner 1200, manufactured for the US market in the 1960’s. The Master Mariner line of watches were produced by LeCoultre to celebrate the 125th year Anniversary of the brand. They were advertised as being sporty yet stylish on the wrist. The brand made sure to create durable watches that could be worn everyday by those who wanted to.

The Master Mariner 1200 came in a few different dial variations. Most had applied hour markers, but the markings differed from being all numerals, stick hour markers, or a combination of the two of them. This example has numerals from the 3, 6, 9, and 12 hour markers and stick indicators for the rest of the hours. The dial is in great condition, with a beautiful applied JLC logo and cursive script for ‘automatic’ and ‘master mariner’. The dial is complicated with a 10k gold filled case which is not as deep of a gold ton as some other gold watches you may have seen, but the lighter ton gives it a bit more of a casual feel to it.

The Master Mariner is running on the LeCoultre 880 bumper movement. The movement is well manufactured and features an hours, minutes and center seconds hand complications. When you wear the watch, it feels super robust on the wrist and in a way when you feel the rotor hitting the bumpers on the movement, it almost feels very smooth with little rigidity.

The watch is currently on a black leather strap, which definitely makes it feel a bit more on the dressier side. This watch can easily be worn with a brown leather strap considering the ton of the gold is on the lighter side.

The watch is available in our store here.

Enjoy!