Jaeger-LeCoultre Mark 11 RAAF Military Issue G6B/346

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Description

For your consideration is this Jaeger-LeCoultre Navigator’s Mark 11 timepiece that was originally issued to Royal Australian Air Force personnel. As far as military timepieces go, the Mark 11 is, without exaggeration, a true ‘holy grail’ timepiece and possibly the finest military mechanical timepiece ever produced. It was also one of the most expensive watches ever made by any government in the world, and is an icon that all serious vintage military watch collectors seek to acquire.

The Mark 11 was born in 1948 and first issued by the British Ministry of Defence to Royal Air Force navigators with the reference 6B/346. The RAAF then made three separate purchases of the Mark 11 in 1950, 1953 and 1956. The “/53” extension on the case-back indicates this particular example comes from the second batch.

The RAAF examples are referenced G6B/346 and feature a number of differences to their British counterparts, which are detailed on the <a href="http://markeleven.com/" target="_blank">Mark Eleven website</a>. The previous owner of the watch stated that he bought the watch from an Army Disposal store in Broadway, Sydney, in the early 1970’s and only ever wore the watch once or twice, hence its good condition. Indeed, this is a fresh-to-the-market example, and is not yet documented on the Mark Eleven website’s database. The new owner of this watch must make sure they submit it (if you don’t, we will)!

This example was subject to an upgrade owing to a technical order in February 1957  - <i>“Technical Order Instrument Modification No. 2 60/1 Watch Wrist Navigators Mark 11 - Improved Glass and Sweep Second Hand”</i>. A new acrylic crystal with a square step around the circumference and a luminized seconds hand was added, which is what we see on this watch.  The watch also features an upgraded crown with o-ring seals in the tube and “JLC” engraving on it, a modification seemingly only done to RAAF versions of the Mark 11.

The most ground-breaking aspect of these watches was of course the JLC calibre 488/SBr movement inside. The movement is made from brass and is rhodium-plated and finished with Geneva stripes. It features a hacking-seconds function, Breguet over-coil hairspring and bi-metallic balance wheel with adjustable inertia screws. The movement is also branded with the Broad Arrow, indicating it was produced specifically for military use. In its day, this was the pinnacle of fine watchmaking - and is just as good as anything made by other highly-esteemed brands like Patek Philippe at the time.

The Mark 11’s were renowned for their superb timekeeping, which was guaranteed by the fact that they were chronometer-certified (extremely rare at the time) by the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceux. The movements were regulated in five positions and tested in temperatures ranging from -5 to 46 degrees over a 44-day period.

One of the most critical requirements for the watch was for it to be highly resistant to magnetic fields owing to its use around all sorts of magnetic-field producing equipment both in the sky and on land. To achieve this, Jaeger-LeCoultre used a thick dial made from iron and a cup-shaped iron cover that covers the movement from the back and sides, creating a magnetic shielding around the movement that results from iron’s natural anti-magnetic properties.

The watch is fitted on a black NATO strap.

There is much to be said about this watch, and much of it has already been put into words far more eloquently than we possibly could. We highly recommend checking out the reference material below for a further understanding of this extremely important watch.

Condition

The watch is in perfect working order with all functions working smoothly. The watch is still keeping good time. The case and crystal is preserved in very good condition commensurate with its age, showing signs of wear one would expect of a watch that was once in active military service.

Warranty

Hailwood Peters provides a one-year warranty on the watch.

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