Skip to content

Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Jaeger LeCoultre Ladies Cocktail Watch, 1950s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Jaeger LeCoultre (maker)
Date
1950s
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 25 mm
Stock no.
40980007
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40980007)
Catalogue title (original)
Jaeger LeCoultre Ladies Cocktail Watch (English)

View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40980007), this is a wristwatch by Jaeger LeCoultre, dated 1950s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 25 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

You may not know Jaeger-LeCoultre like you think you do. Though recognized for its iconic Reverso timepiece and various important tool watches from the mid-20th century, JLC also holds the distinction of having developed the world’s smallest mechanical movement — a record that remains unbroken today. The Calibre 101, which debuted in 1929, was designed to power ladies’ cocktail watches — the type of pieces that combined the finest watchmaking with high jewelry in pieces that could be worn to dinners, balls, galas and the like. When found in good condition today, such pieces continue to dazzle. This particular ladies’ cocktail watch dates to the 1950s and features a 25mm 18K yellow gold integrated case and bracelet, an acrylic crystal, a signed JLC crown, a diamond bezel, and a silver satin dial with black stick hands and baton indices. In excellent condition and powered by a manually wound JLC movement, it’s a piece of horological art that looks as fashionable today as it did in the mid-20th century. Pick this piece up today for a bit of Mad Men -inspired style!

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Wristwatches

Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.

After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.

What to look for

  • The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
  • The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
  • Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
  • Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
  • Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
  • Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Detached lever escapementIdentification Centre

Related records