The Futurematic watches came in two models (or References) in their short run, the E501 and the E502. Each model had a movement, which was them updated and renamed over time. The watches were produced between 1951 and 1958, with a total of 57,500 made.
The E501 had the 497 movement for most of the production run. This was then updated to the slightly different 497/1, and finally the updated 827.
The E502 had the 817 and then the 837 movement.
Of the Futurematic watches, the E501 containing the 497 (and later 497/1) movements were by far the most produced, followed by the E502 817, and then the 827 and 837, in that order. These are the offical productions numbers as listed by JLC[1]:
- Calibre 497 (E501) — 52,500
- Calibre 817 (E502) — 3,500
- Calibre 827 (E501) — 1,000
- Calibre 837 (E502) — 500
As you can see, the later models had significantly less production making them quite rare — especially the 827 and 837.
Movement Pages:
References:
- Jaeger-LeCoultre “The Collectables” book
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaeger-LeCoultre
- https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=jlc_497