Okay, so I’ve been messing around with watches lately, and I got this idea to try and make a knock-off of a fancy Jaeger-LeCoultre watch. I’m talking about the Rendez-Vous Moon model. It’s a real beauty, and I figured, why not give it a shot?
First off, I started digging around online to see what this watch was all about. Found some stuff about the brand, Jaeger-LeCoultre, being all about fancy, elegant watches for women. Apparently, they were one of the first to do that. Cool, cool. Then I saw this Rendez-Vous collection – they call it a “luxury watch collection” on their website. They have this “modern floral look” going on, whatever that means.
I spent a good chunk of time just staring at pictures of the watch. I mean, it’s really something. They say it reflects the “house’s creativity and ingenuity”. Sounds like a load of marketing fluff, but hey, the watch does look pretty darn intricate. They also mention that each watch is made with “technical perfection” and “impeccable design standards.” Again, more fancy talk, but it got me thinking about how I was going to pull this off.
I started by trying to find similar-looking parts. The dial, the hands, the case – I wanted it to look as close to the real deal as possible. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. I ended up ordering a bunch of different parts from different places. Some were okay, some were trash. It was a lot of trial and error.
Then came the hard part – putting it all together. I’m no watchmaker, that’s for sure. I watched a ton of videos online, read some articles, and just kind of winged it. I messed up a few times, scratched a few parts, and almost gave up more than once.
But I kept at it. Slowly but surely, things started to come together. I got the movement working, the hands moving, and the moon phase complication – which was a real pain, by the way – sort of functioning. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.
I also tried to mimic some of the design details, like the way the numbers are laid out and the little decorations on the dial. I found some materials that looked similar, like some cheap imitation mother-of-pearl stuff, and tried to incorporate them. It was tricky, but I think I got it pretty close.
Finally, after weeks of tinkering, I had something that resembled a Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Moon.
- Scoured the internet for information and pictures of the real watch.
- Sourced parts that looked similar to the original, mostly cheap stuff, but I tried my best.
- Watched a bunch of watchmaking videos, mostly to figure out the basics.
- Assembled the watch, with lots of trial and error.
- Tried to mimic the design elements, like the numbers and dial decorations, using cheap materials.
Here’s a quick rundown of what I did:
The end result? Well, it’s not going to fool any watch expert, that’s for sure. The movement is definitely not as smooth, the materials are obviously cheaper, and the finishing is nowhere near the quality of the real thing. But hey, it tells the time, the moon phase kind of works, and it looks somewhat like the Rendez-Vous Moon. I’m actually kind of proud of it, even if it’s just a cheap imitation. It was a fun project, and I learned a lot about watches along the way. I might even try to make another one, who knows? Maybe I’ll even get better at it.
Oh, and I remembered seeing something about Mother’s Day on May 10, 2020, and some other date, March 26, 2021, about “Reverso” watches. I guess that’s another model? Might look into that one next time, sounds interesting.
Anyways, that’s my story about trying to imitate a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch. It was a challenge, but a fun one. Hope you enjoyed my little adventure!
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