Jaeger-LeCoultre Mark 11 Military Pilot Watch Review

We don't often speak about this nice Vintage Watch, and we are wrong!

Not only this watch is very nice and has a lot of charm, but it was also, and most important, a true tool watch, very well conceived, with a nice movement.

I /Some historical datas:

The Mark 11 is the 3rd Military Pilot watch produced by JLC.

In 1940 ( till 1943 ), JLC first released a lovely Pilot Watch, the Mark VII so called Weems because of its special crown at " 4 " which is used to control the graduated bezel:



Then, from 43, we saw the Mark VII without this dedicated crown ( Credit pic: Zaf Basha ):



We had to wait till 1948 / 1949 to see the birth of the Mark 11.

Under the Mark Reference, you have in fact 2 watches:

The one made for the R.A.F:



The 2d, for the R.A.A.F:



From 1949 to 1953, JLC made 2950 Mark 11, 2000 for the Royal Air Force, 950 for the Royal Australian Air Force.

These are the 3 Pilot Watches ever made by JLC, the so called Mark 10, in fact " Wrist Watch Waterproof " being a Military watch, of course, but for infantry.

The Mark 11 can be seen as an improved version of the Mark VII, build and conceived under severe specifications like a reliable and accurate movement ( Cal 488SBr ) with an hacking second, housed in a waterproof and anti magnetic case.

2/ The Watch(es).

The RAF and RAAF Mark XI are very similar watches.



A / The Common points ( Case, dial, hands, soft iron dust cover, and big crown )

- The case has a 35 mm diameter, which may look small, but the watch is thick.

The RAF:







The RAAF:







This special volume is true part of this watch, giving it a strong " allure " and a big presence, once the surprise of the small size gone.

- The dial is the same, too, even if on Marv's RAF and on mine, they are different, but these 2 dials existed on both watches.

RAF:



RAAF:



In both cases, the same black dial texture, which superbly contrasts with the white numbers all around the dial ,and these small touches of radium for the quarter indexes and luminous hands.

- The following hands can be found on the RAF and the RAAF:

Square hour hand like on mine, or index hour hands like on the RAF, or even Cathedral hands:

Here the square hour hand, and the index hour hand:



There, the Cathedral hands ( Credit pic : Zaf Basha ):



- The soft iron dust cover, which protects the movement not only against the dust, but also against the magnetic fields invading the cockpits.



- The big crown:

At the contrary of the Mark VII Weems which has an additional crown at " 4 " to sychronize the timing, the Mark XI has an hacking second, and, hence, needs only one crown, and a big one, to be easily used when Pilots wear their gloves.

Here, a pic which helps to appreciate the size of the crown, related to the volume of the case.



Esthetically speaking, this big crown adds some strenght to this watch, indeed, as it is perfectly integrated to the case, and to the whole volume of the watch.

B/ The question of the lugs and bars, the plexys, the engravings on the case back, and the movement:

Here, we're speaking about the differences between the RAF and RAAF Mark 11.

- While the RAF Mark 11 only come with fixed lug bars, the RAAF may also come with lug bars which have been drilled out.

The fixed lug bars on the RAF Mark 11:



RAAF Mark 11:



- As for the Crystals, the rule is simple:

All the Mark 11 came with a domed plexy, but on some RAAF, you can see some " chimney " shaped plexys.

The domed plexy is nicely integrated to the bezel:



While the " chimney " plexy is a bit more ...Brutal, but not less pleasant, and presents the interest of a less important distorsion when reading the hour:



- The engravings on the case back are specific to each of the Mark 11.

The RAF comes with this engraving:

From the top:

the Arrow, then, the6B / 346, then the serial number on the year of release ( 48 or 49 ), as shown below:



On the RAAF, things are really different, as you first have the G6B / 346, then RA cut by the arrow, then AF, and the serial number on the year of release ( 53 ) ( don't know who to credit for this last pic ).



- The movement:

The Cal 488 SBr is the same for the 2 versions of the Mark 11.

As explained on Zaf Basha's book, the hairspring is made of Nivarox alloy, and the balance wheel is made of glucydur alloy, to improve the resistance to magnetic fields.

This is a very interesting movement, as it fills the link between the Cal 470 used in the Mark VII, and the Cal P 478 BWSbr used in the legendary Géophysic.

It is quite nicely finished, as you can see below:



Or here, with this superb Close up from Steve G:



Here again the difference between the RAF and the RAAF is in the writing. as most of the RAF comes with " Swiss Jaeger Lecoultre", while all the RAAF come with " Fab Suisse SWISS Jaeger Lecoultre ", as shown on the 2 pics above.

So, these Pilot watches are true Treasures, as they were the beginning of a fantastic Trilogy " Air / Earth / Sea ".

The only sad thing is that after a big decade of existence, JLC didn't made these Pilot watches anymore.

Sad, and strange, as if we see the JLC story, we can notice that the History is an eternal repetition or hommage to the Past.

But these Pilot watches were not re edited at all, and didn't receive any hommage in the modern production, at thecontrary of the Geomatic, the Memovox, or the Divers.

They are the " missing link ", indeed.

But that's also part of their interest, of their ..Legend.

Best,

Nicolas PS: Huge thanks to Zaf Basha, the Heritage Gallery, and to the dedicated website to the Mark 11. This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-04-07 14:20:22 This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-04-08 06:02:56 This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-04-14 05:50:42