First introduced in 1968 as a diver’s watch, the Polaris Memovox was Jaeger-LeCoultre’s answer to that era’s newfound fascination with deep-sea diving. Since 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Swiss luxury brand’s original Memovox Polaris , Jaeger LeCoultre introduced at SIHH a full collection of new Polaris models.
This collection includes a three-hand automatic, a chronograph and a chronograph world time, as well as two models with a stronger vintage feel: the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Date and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Memovox.
While the other watches in the collection offer a mix of complications and new takes on the model, the Polaris Memovox is the hallmark piece for its vintage appeal as a near replica of the 1968 version.
This 50th anniversary timepiece has a three-crown design which was used as a teaser prior to launch. There is one for setting the alarm (top), one for the inner rotating bezel (middle) and one for setting the time (bottom).
The vintage cues on the dial are those of the ’68 original featuring, as it does, vanilla Super-LumiNova, trapezoidal indices mixed with four Arabic numbers – and the triangle in the dial center serving as the alarm indicator. Controlled by the alarm crown, the central disc turns to line up the triangle with the desired alarm time.
The caseback of the new Memovox is closed, in deference to the style of the original, with an engraving of a scuba diver on the back. It is water resistant to 200 meters. The movement, Caliber 956, is a direct descendant of the first automatic alarm watch movement created by Jaeger-LeCoultre in the 1950s.
New Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Memovox comes on a brand-new rubber strap with a new folding buckle and is limited to only 1,000 pieces.
Pricing for the automatic model will range from $6,600-$7,600, the date model will be $7,750-$8,700, and the Memovox is $12,600. The chrono ranges between $10,000-$24,500 while the worldtimer chrono is priced between $14,500-$14,600.