Antique and Vintage Clocks

Jaeger LeCoultre clocks are a favorite among collectors

Jaeger LeCoultre clocks are a favorite among collectors of high-end luxury timepieces, often bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. Jaeger LeCoultre to this day produces high quality desk clocks and watches in addition to their famous line of Atmos clocks.

I was in an antique shop in Victoria, BC recently and I must confess that I have never seen so many antique and vintage clocks in one place outside a museum. (I’ll cover those in a future blog article)

There were so many French and American mantel and wall clocks that I went by this diminutive clock twice before stopping to take a more careful look. On the clock face it says LeCoultre and underneath the base there is a label that says Faust Waltz, the musical tone of this alarm clock.

It is small but substantial in weight. It is an authentic 8-day gilt or lacquered bronze Swiss made clock from about the 1960s to 1970s though it may be earlier. There are no obvious dents or scratches on the case and no marks on the glazing although I did not have enough time to examine it more closely. I have no idea whether or not it is in complete working order but the fact that music box functions is encouraging.

Unfortunately I was taking shots with low light and using a flash would have attracted too much attention from the owner. The quality is not up to my usual standards.

I am in the process of deciding whether or not to make the decision to buy this clock. In the meantime I have several questions:

• The seller is asking CDN199; a fair price?
• Is it collectible?
• I would like to narrow the vintage, the year it was made, thoughts?

There are plenty of different styles of LeCoultre alarm clocks on the net but I could only find one photo of this particular clock. Either it is rare and desirable or uncommon and not worth considering. I hope it is the former.

Let me know what you think.