The “GT” in the name doesn’t stand for “Grand Tourer” — this isn’t a car, after all — but rather “Grand Taille,” which translates from French to “Large Size.” This is a reference to the oval case, which was considered oversized for the 1970s at 39mm across and 46.6mm long.
The uniquely shaped stainless steel case, which is thin at the sides and bulbous on the top and bottom, features a mix of brushed and polished surfaces, with integrated lugs hiding the attachment of its three-row bracelet and two signed crowns at 2:00 and 4:00.
As part of JLC’s iconic Memovox line, the watch boasts a mechanical alarm set using one of its two crowns, and it also features a date window at 3:00. The dial is pure 1970s goodness, with a busy minute track marking every half second, applied block indices that are split in the middle and a colored inner ring for the alarm’s hour scale.
Inside the alarm track are three more circles in the same color that join at the bottom above 6:00 to form a very cool “GT” logo. It looks like an automotive badge, and when factoring in the case shape, the use of color and especially the “Speed Beat GT” name, the entire watch feels very 1970s motorsports-coded to me.
But as far as I can tell, it wasn’t marketed as such. Instead, JLC more broadly pitched the watch in advertisements at the time as a watch for “men of action” who “live a busy and fast-paced life,” which, I suppose, could include race car drivers.