Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this watch thing, trying to make a knock-off of the Jaeger-LeCoultre JLC Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire. It’s been a real pain, honestly.
I started by looking at a bunch of pictures online. This watch, the real one, it’s got this slick, closed-off dial. Everything is tucked away except for this cool moon thing inside the hour and minute dial. I thought, “Yeah, I can do that.”
First, I tried to find a cheap base watch that kind of looked like it. I spent a few days searching and finally found something that had the general shape. I ordered it, and when it arrived, I took it apart. I mean, completely disassembled it – hands, dial, everything.
- Sourcing Parts: I scoured the internet for parts. Found some decent hands and a moon phase thingy that was kind of close. Not perfect, but hey, it’s a fake, right?
- Dial Disaster: The dial was the hardest part. I tried printing a new one, but the quality was trash. Then I tried painting one, which was a total mess. I ended up using the original dial and just adding a few things to it to make it look a bit more like the Jaeger-LeCoultre.
- Movement Mayhem: Forget about getting the actual movement. That’s way too complicated. I just focused on making the outside look decent.
After a lot of trial and error, I finally got something that resembled the watch. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot. The moon phase thing is a bit off, and the overall quality is, well, let’s just say it’s not going to fool anyone who knows watches. I found a nice picture of the steel model (Ref. Q604848J), I thought it looked pretty good. I might try to do the Chronograph Moon (Ref. Q622252J) version next.
But hey, it was a fun little project. I learned a lot about watches, and I got to use my hands. I even thought about getting a real Jaeger-LeCoultre, maybe the Sphrotourbillon, but I don’t think my wallet could handle that. I spent hours on this, and I’m still not 100% happy with it, but I guess that’s how these things go. You win some, you lose some.
It took way longer than I thought it would. I spent most of my free time over the past few weeks on this, and my wife is starting to wonder if I’ve lost it. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re really bored and have a lot of patience. Maybe I’ll try to sell it online and see if anyone bites. Who knows, maybe someone out there wants a wonky imitation Jaeger-LeCoultre. Anyway, thanks for letting me rant about this. It’s good to get it off my chest.
If you’re thinking about trying something like this, my advice is: don’t. Just kidding (sort of). It’s tough, but if you’re into it, go for it. Just be prepared for a lot of frustration and maybe a few “what am I doing with my life” moments. But who knows, you might end up with something cool. Or at least a good story to tell. Next time, I’m thinking of trying something completely different. Or maybe not. We’ll see.
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