A Look at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic
A Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic reference E502 / Credit: Hodinkee
There are few watch brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre today. Jaeger-LeCoultre has among the best reputations in the watch industry; known for their high skill in producing watch movements, but also their inventive watch designs and innovations. And it was that very same innovation that once almost led the famed Swiss watch brand to bankruptcy in the mid-20th century, in this case due to the development of one of the first automatic wristwatches without a crown: the Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic was built to be an elegant, accurate timepiece, and released not long after the release of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first automatic movement. The watch was first released in the early 1950s (most sources cite either 1951 or 1953), and according to old advertisements, upon its release the timepiece sold for about $160 for 14k gold and $100 for gold-filled – not bad considering JLC’s prices today.
The JLC Futurematic was first released with the infamous Caliber 497 (ref. E 501), a bumper movement which was produced until the late 1950s. The Caliber 497 was followed by the Caliber 817 (ref. E 502), introduced in the mid-1950s and only lasting a few years. The JLC Cal. 497 had 17 jewels and a 18,000 bph rate – its power reserve indicator has the appearance of a power gauge while that of the Caliber 817 looks like a porthole.
One nice feature of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic, was that the mainspring will not run out of power while being worn, instead the watch will stop with a minimum power reserve of 6 hours so that whenever it is picked back up, it will start automatically. This would supposedly be more convenient due to the lack of a crown for winding.
The Watch That Broke the Bank – The Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic featuring the Cal. 497 / Credit: Analog/Shift
Apart from the uniqueness of a crownless automatic movement, another aspect that really makes the Caliber 497 special was that its development is rumored to have nearly bankrupt Jaeger-LeCoultre. The brand invested heavily into the movement’s development and then faced underwhelming sales for the Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic. Unfortunate, but also an indication that when it was made, the JLC Futurematic was truly meant to be the flagship of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s offerings.
As we often see with vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre, and some other brands, Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematics for the US market had ‘LeCoultre’ on the dial instead of the full name, ‘Jaeger-LeCoultre’, due to the protectionist policies of the Smoot-Hawley Act.
Ultimately, the life of the Futurematic was extremely short-lived, less than 10 years. The story of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Futurematic is one of a timepiece that many consider to have been ‘over-engineered’, as it was overly costly to make, with innovation behind it that wasn’t all that necessary; leading to a huge loss for Jaeger-LeCoultre. However, I’d contend that this over-engineering also led to the creation of a new caliber, and one of the first automatic crownless watches; a very interesting vintage piece to collect.
By: Andres Ibarguen