Upgrade to Access Content

Hi. Looking at trading in a watch only (serviced by Patek in 2021) Neptune 5085/1a. What would be the approximate value for that watch by dealers? Appreciate your help!

Hi ALl

New to the group, so I figured I would introduce myself by starting a discussion that might be of interest.

I have been collecting watches "quietly" for many years, mostly reading, researching, and learning rather than posting. Most of my active forum experience has actually been on automotive forums, but I have always enjoyed following watch discussions from the sidelines. This seems like a smaller and more focused group, so I thought I would give it a shot and hopefully contribute something useful.

To that end, I thought I would start a conversation around a watch in my collection that many people may not have encountered, although I am hoping some here have. I wanted to talk about the Jean Lassale, specifically the Calibre 2000.

So here is the TLDR on why I wanted to bring this watch up and why I think it deserves attention.

Research Dossier: Jean Lassale Calibre 2000 (1976)

1. Historical Significance and Rarity

Brand Origins: Founded in 1976 by Jean Bouchet Lassale in Geneva.

The Era: Independent Swiss production from 1976 to 1979 is widely considered the Golden Era for collectors. Most later Lassale watches transitioned into Seiko owned quartz production, so the early mechanical versions are often viewed as the true Holy Grail pieces of the brand.

Movement Pedigree: The Calibre 2000 automatic and the Calibre 1200 manual movements were so advanced for their time that after the company collapsed, the designs were licensed and adapted by major Swiss houses. These became the basis for Vacheron Constantin Calibre 1160 and Piaget Calibre 20P.

2. Technical Innovation: The "Floating" Architecture

Thickness: 2.08 mm for the automatic movement.

Engineering: The movement achieved its extreme thinness by eliminating traditional bridges and instead relying on a baseplate only architecture.

Ball Bearing Axis: The movement uses 14 microscopic ball bearings, approximately 0.20 mm each, to support the gear train and the central rotor.

Exhibition Back Value: My specific example has a factory exhibition case back, which from what I understand is particularly uncommon. It allows the floating architecture to actually be seen, which is normally hidden behind a closed case back.

That is the core historical and technical context behind why this watch caught my attention and why I thought it might be worth discussing here.

I am curious if anyone here has handled one of these in person or has spent time studying them. I would be interested to hear whether this is a movement that people here view as historically important or more of an interesting side branch in the evolution of ultra thin watchmaking.

The reason this topic really came to the surface for me recently was that the watch needed service, and the repair estimate was not trivial. It forced me to decide whether this was a watch worth saving or whether it should quietly fade into history as one more casualty of an ambitious but fragile engineering idea.

There is also a bit of humor in all of this. Sometimes when I see this watch sitting in the winder next to pieces like my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and my JLC Deep Sea, it feels like the oddball in the group. Yet at the same time, the more I read about it, the more it feels like it may be one of the more intellectually interesting watches in the box.

Curious to hear what others here think, especially from those who have restored one, owned one, or studied the movement in depth.

Why do these watches not have the dates or years indicated? Especially with watches that have papers...

What is everyone wearing this week?

EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE PLEASE JOIN THE WHATSAPP CHAT HERE: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DMeAvRyzd5s6qNO0iXaFBJ?mode=gi_t

IF YOU ARE HAVING ISSUES ENROLLING OR USING WHATSAPP PLEASE SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE.

All: Fed and I had in depth conversations this week with Elshan of Zelos and Armand of Sartory-Billard. These gentleman are both owners so we know they have full authority to make representations. Both of them are happy to participate in the project and it is now time to pick a path and start moving to design conversations. I'll write this summary style for brevity.

Zelos:

Pros: Most Cost Effective, Options Starting approximately $2,000 with a skeletonized ETA 7001 a la Ming with manual wind, very open to designing custom cases to potentially fit higher end movements and do a true never before seen watch project.

Cons: Leads times for higher levels of customization or high end movements can take over a year, we would need to do most of the design/art on our own, less brand cachet and resale value should that be a concern.

Sartory Billard:

Pros: Fully developed bespoke program work flow with in house designers providing support, shorter lead times (as fast as four months from deposit to completion), established and rapidly growing Swiss brand recognition and residual value retention.

Cons: Locked into the case design ( https://sartory-billard.com/products/sb04-e ), locked into movement (La Joux-Perret G100), more expensive with apples to apples movement (approximately double).

Both watches would come with metal, rubber and leather straps in the package.

We need around 20-25 confirmed participants to make this happen feasibly with either brand and we would like to get voting on it quickly to kick things off. Please meet us on the Whatsapp chat to take this conversation further, and it there is anyone not on the below list and still on the fence feel free to hop on and drop a comment so we know who to expect. This is going to be an awesome, unique project and a great way to kick things off here. Feel free to post or PM me if you have any questions.

1)Josh B, $7,000 - Joined Whatsapp

2)Jnsgator, $5,000

3)Jlcollect. 1 Billion Dollars

4)Sopanada,$7,000

5) Shane, TBD - Joined Whatsapp

6)kbwatchkidney, Money is no object, peasants

7) drheckles, $5,000

8) andrew_e_truman, $5,000 - Joined Whatsapp

9) Rich_R, $5,000

10) pthomas, $7,000 - Joined Whatsapp

11) Optywatch -$TBD - Joined Whatsapp

12) Cajuncowboy, $5,000

13) cyrulnik, $5,000+ - Joined Whatsapp

14) Ntinos1000, $5,000+

15)BrilliantMistake -$3,000

16)Admiralawesome- $2,500ish

17)Buffy1 - $7,000

18) KCcyclone1-$3,000+ - Joined Whatsapp

19) bakjor - $5,000+

20)scottperfecto - $2,500+

21)Watchtime- $5,000

22)Ranvir -$5,000+ - Joined Whatsapp

23)Soulvaccination -$3,000+

24)DeadOnMondays -$Imrichbiyatch!

25)AdamsJK- $5,000+

26)Dimka- $2,000+

27)Odysey- $4,000+ - Joined Whatsapp

28)Razcat- $7,000

29)scooter260 -$5,000

30)borisbazan -$3,000

31)jwyds44 -$tbd - Joined Whatsapp

32)pacergus -$5,000

33)spider2469 -$infinite!! - Joined Whatsapp

34)Shaun -$5,000

35)ZachLA -$5,000 - Joined Whatsapp

36) Sadnysports- - Joined Whatsapp