By now it is no big secret anymore – The Le Coultre Deep Sea Alarm American version from the 1950s is one of most sought after diving watches in the world.
We were one of the first blogs to report on it, way back in 2013 (see post here) -although Hodinkee readers have been alerted to this masterpiece already in 2011 –see post here. Since then other blogs have been writing about it, most famously Hodinkee who brought the story of Eric Ku traveling far to buy one from a collector who paid virtually nothing for it. Collectors have another chance to buy a nice version at Antiquorum in HK who will be auctioning one on June 27th/28th.
The deep sea alarm came in two different versions, the European version and the American version, which we find more attractive with the writing on the dial (see main picture above). Most American versions today have the wrong bezel insert not to mention the wrong hands and the wrong crowns (although this is a small problem that Jaeger can fix at a service).
There are also many fake deep sea alarms now in circulation as well. So to find a correct nice example with the lume still half way in-tact on the bezel is very rare.
The lume on the dial in the version Antiquorum is selling also seems intact. Since the Le Coultre was a diving watch- most versions are either completely destroyed or the dials full of damage (water, moisture, bezel broken etc). Why has the Le Coultre Deep Sea Alarm (DSA) become such an Icon?
There are several reasons.
First the watch is rare- only a little more than 1000 pieces were made. Secondly the watch is simply beautiful. When you think of vintage and patina- this is one of the watches collectors think of. The estimate of this watch is $30-40’ooo. Any successful bid within this estimate will be well worth it down the road. More information on this watch can be found here.
(Picture credit: Antiquorum)
