Jaeger-LeCoultre

gup502
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Gran Sport or not

Personally I like the basic Reverso design. It is a watch that can be flipped, in other words the dial or the look can be changed in a few seconds. There are other watch collectors who have also voiced their opinion which I agree. Reverso though looks interesting, one really has to put the watch on one's wrist to get a feel of it. A simple fact is...to some the Grande is a little bit oversized, the Squadra is a personal taste, there are now so many different variations of the Reverso. The launch of the Gran Sport was a big event in those days, but the sale of the watches was never a big success. It was a different watch world. It might have been different if they were launched today. Gran'Sport was designed to be a sports watch, period. That is why there is no leather band for the Chronograph and Duo and even the leather band for the automatic is the sporty version. The plastic band seemed to be a follower of Patek Philippe's Aquanaut. One may be skeptical of its durability, but the rubber material is light, comfortable and very durable. I have mine for more than 6 years and never need to order a replacement. The bracelet is just as lovely to wear. The Gran'Sport was designed to be an everyday watch for an active person. Water resistance to 5 ATM and the hardened steel or even gold casing is to protect the heart of the timepiece. Compared to other Reverso at the time, Gran'Sport was the only Reverso designed to explore the world without being a burden at least psychologically to the wearer. It was by no means an answer to the Rolex Explorer but has the same theme disguised in another form. I have owned all three of them, the automatic, chronograph and the duo. They are all very well built and designed. The automatic has a screw in crown which is to put a peace of mind to the owner of its ability in water resistance. It's only drawback is its size. It is slightly smaller to its brothers the chronograph and the duo. Therefore, in my opinion, it is best to select a white dial with a rubber or leather band. The contrast of the colour will bring out a bit more of the size of the watch. My personal favorite for either the chronograph or duo is to have a black dial to go with a rubber band which is also black and a white dial to go with a bracelet. The construction of the lugs and size of the chrronograph and duo is thicker and slight bigger than the automatic. Therefore the bracelet version looks really great and feels very solid. The arabic dial is the only dial I like, thus the trio has the same font style. I do not have the bracelet for the white dial of the duo, but I am happy with the look of it in its current form. As far as accuracy goes, the automatic and chronograph both run at +2 seconds per day, the duo runs at +3 seconds. The chronograph is a retrograde. I admire its technical engineering. I have other chronographs and have found it is rare to have a need to time an event for more than an hour. Therefore, the 30 minutes chronograph seems a bit short at first but it is actually quite practical. The duo has the convenience of another time zone and the manipulation is through a push button. The functions are not as rich as the Dualmatic. But it is a duo with a date at least for the home time! The details of the dials are pleasing to the eyes. I was very tempted at one stage by the limited release of the current duo but the sports version of the Gran'Sport suits my life style. Most of today's Reverso are well priced but the Gran'Sport could be a bargain. Just my 2 cents... I am sure you will make the right choice. Watch selection is like choosing your mate.