Why We Love It

Combining accuracy with looks as cool as a sea breeze, the Master Mariner is criminally under-sung—but we want to change that.

JLC released the watch in several different variants, each with a different dial configuration. One had numerals and markers interspersed, with the numerals at the Poles. The one that we offer here is all markers, as sharp as the watch itself.

Crafted from 14k yellow gold, the Master Mariner resonates with all the distinction of a sea captain, his medals glistening in the sun, and that is magnified by the presence of a Cartier signature on the dial in addition to LeCoultre's own. Though the diameter might be 35mm, the long beveled lugs make it wear larger. On a brown leather strap with period JLC buckle, this is one mariner that ready to go out on the town. 

The Story

The name might conjure images of a dive watch—in fact, Jaeger-LeCoultre did in fact use that name for a SuperCompressor dive watch released in 1969. But this is not that watch. Instead, this Master Mariner was designed to be worn not under, but above, the waves.

Released to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the LeCoultre factory, the Master Mariner was targeted to those who ply their trade on the sea. Advertisements in the 1950s showed the Master Mariner marine chronometer on the wrists of sea captains. The Master Mariner was, or so the ads went, “self-winding, superbly accurate, with maximum protection against water, moisture, dust and shock,” and “… cased with distinction.”

Powering it all is the Calibre 476/3, which JLC adapted from its first automatic calibre, the 476. Released the same year as the more familiar Geophysic, the Master Mariner enjoyed only a short production run before being discontinued. Therefore, like its stablemate, the Geophysic, examples emerge on the market only rarely.