Okay, so, I got into this whole watch thing a while back, and let me tell you, it’s a rabbit hole. Today, I’m diving deep into my latest project: messing around with a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar. Yeah, it’s a mouthful, and no, I didn’t shell out for the real deal. I picked up a, shall we say, “homage” piece to tinker with.
First off, I started digging around for any info I could find on these watches. I wanted to know what makes them tick, literally. Turns out, the real ones use this crazy thin movement, the Calibre 145, it’s wild, only 1.38mm thick. I mean, how do they even do that? Of course, my replica probably isn’t packing anything that fancy. The case size is 40mm, and the thick is 10.95mm.
Next, I had to figure out what I was actually working with. I cracked open the back, took a look at the movement inside. It’s definitely not a Calibre 145 or the self-winding Calibre 868, but it’s got all the gears and stuff in roughly the right places. It’s got a date wheel, some subdials for the day, month, and I think a moon phase thingy. Close enough, right?
Disassembling
- Getting Started: I grabbed my tiny screwdrivers and started taking this thing apart. First thing, I took off the strap, which was surprisingly decent quality, I guess. Then, the back cover came off.
- Movement: I carefully lifted out the movement. It’s held in place by a couple of screws and a plastic spacer ring. I set that aside, making sure not to lose any of those tiny screws.
- Hands and Dial: This was the scary part. I used a hand remover tool to pull off the hands. I was so worried about bending them, but I managed to get them off okay. Then, I unscrewed the dial feet and took off the dial. Underneath, there’s a whole bunch of gears and levers for the calendar functions.
Reassembling
- Putting it Back Together: I basically did everything in reverse. First, I put the dial back on, screwed in the dial feet. Then, I pressed the hands back on. This was tough because you have to get them lined up just right.
- Movement Back In: I dropped the movement back into the case, making sure it was seated properly. Screwed it in, put the spacer ring back, and then the back cover.
- Strap On: Finally, I reattached the strap. Boom, done.
After putting it all back together, it actually still worked! I was pretty stoked. I set the time and date, wound it up, and it started ticking away. The calendar functions seemed to work okay, too, although I’m not sure how accurate they are. It felt pretty good to take something apart and put it back together without completely destroying it.
This whole experience got me thinking about authenticity. I mean, my watch looks pretty similar to the real deal, but it’s obviously not the same. Is it really “fake” though? It’s not trying to be a genuine Jaeger-LeCoultre, just an imitation of the design. It’s like a cover band playing someone else’s song. They’re not pretending to be the original artist, just playing the music they like. Anyways, this project was a blast. I learned a ton about how these watches work, and I got to play around with some cool tools. Now I’m itching to find my next watch project. Maybe I’ll try modding something, or even building my own watch from scratch. Who knows? The possibilities are endless.
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