I had taken a bit of a writing break during the summer holidays, but now I’m back. Although I did not write on the Blog, it does not mean I did not pay any attention to watches. In fact, I have been able to find some nice pieces, so now is the time to write about it again. My biggest catch overall was certainly this Jaeger-LeCoultre Geomatic E560. I had been casually looking for an E560 but not really with perseverance as finding one of those is extremely difficult.
However, as it happens, I got offered a E560 through a contact of a friend. The watch was fairly good but rather pricey and also located in the US and required a fast decision making by me. Of course, while trying to decide if/what I should do, I went again on an extensive search for E560 information on the Web. As it happened there appeared one E560 for sale from a jeweller shop in the UK. Of course, UK means paying import taxex…damn it, but the price was in the mid-range and the more I explored the details and the pictures, I concluded it was in even better shape than the one from the US and still cheaper even with taxes paid.
It also came with box and signed papers, showing the watch was sold in 1975 in London, Bond Street. 1975 makes it quite late, according to available information most were produced 1970/71 in an overall small batch of only 200 in total. So I gave myself a push and contacted the seller and agreed the purchase. Then something happened I never experienced before. The purchase we agreed on a Wednesday afternoon and payment was made through their online shop. With shipping, customs clearance I was ready to wait maybe a week for it to arrive. I was wrong. It got delivered next day, all customs cleared before lunch. I think this was a one-time miracle.
The Geomatic E560 is quite a special watch, not typical at all. The case you could call a TV-Screen cushion shape but in reality it wears more like a square case watch with some subtle curves. The golden dial in the yellow gold case calls for some experimenting with straps. 19mm at the lugs, same as the Geomatic E399. Of course a classic black alligator is possible, I also tried a dark blue, but what in the end really did it for me is this light beige calf strap. It makes the gold pop and it makes it more casual. I know, you either love it or hate it, but for me, this is it. I love it.
Let’s enjoy a few more photos of this quite special Jaeger-LeCoultre watch.
