Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: Vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Polaris Ref. E859 watch

Recently, I have been revisiting my Vintage Jaeger Lecoultre memovox watches and I have decided to update my old post from 2009 with additional informations that I have managed to gather from the internet.

Launched in 1965 as a successor to the Memovox Deep Sea, the Polaris was Jaeger LeCoultre's response to the ever-increasing popularity of recreational scuba diving. Jaeger Lecoulte is one of the pioneers of the alarm watch and they are famous for producing their Memovox line. While most of the Memovoxes made were dress watches and far cheaper, JLC began testing and prototyping underwater diving alarm watches in the 1960s : A Super compressor Diver watch with alarm functionThe Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Polaris Ref. E859 is one of the most iconic super compressor dive watches from the 20th century

It featured an internal revolving bezel as well as an alarm function and a date. Equipped with the Jaeger caliber K825 that revolutionized the watch world a few years before as the world's first automatic alarm watch, the Polaris offered divers reliability and endurance. . With it’s distinctive design and a production run of only 1714 pieces from 1965 -1970 and it is extremely rare and sought after by real vintage watch collectors.

In order for the alarm to be heard underwater, JLC developed a patented triple caseback. The Jaeger Lecoultre Polaris E859 is powered by JLC’s reliable 17-jewel, calibre K825 bumper automatic movement with its chiming capability enables the wearer to keep track of dive times — thanks to the use of a 16-hole-bearing exterior caseback designed to improve resonance, the chimes can be heard easily underwater. The 16 holes seen on this caseback is to ensure the alarm and vibrations are amplified so the diver can both hear and feel when it is time to return to the surface. As a result, this watch is seriously loud.

Part of the Polaris’ charm lies in its iconic design, with huge exploding painted indexes for the second version, an inner rotating ring, and Ervin Piquerez supercompressor case with crosshatched crowns. This combined with its large size makes for an incredibly wearable watch by today’s standards. Moreover, the super-compressor construction of the oversized stainless-steel case are designed to become more watertight as one goes deeper. As water pressure increases, the caseback’s water-sealing rings are increasingly compressed, not only ensuring the water resistance of the watch, but also prolonging the lifespan of the greased O-rings.

There are two versions of the Jaeger Lecoultre Memovox Ref E859 Polaris. The version with "Jaeger Lecoultre" on the dial was originally sold in Europe & Commonwealth markets, while those featuring only ‘LeCoultre’ were typically sold in the United States.

In addition there are also two versions in terms of dial and back case design. The first generation 65 version (1965-66) was fitted with plain black dial with thin baton indexes and luminous dauphine hands, a solid single snap-on case back, while the second 68 versions (1967-71) were with the huge lumious markers and also with additional external back case with16 holes drilled for better sound emission. The first and second generations of the Polaris was made in a total of only 1714 pieces over a 6 year period between 1965 and 1971

1. First generation Le Coultre with thin baton indexes and single snap back case

Thin baton index

Single snap back case

(Photos courtesy of https://www.worldoftime.de/Watches/jaeger-lecoultre/memovox-polaris-30066)

2. Second generation Jaeger Lecoultre watch with the huge lumious markers and also with additional external back case with16 holes. I personally love the second versions with bold lumious markers and additional case back design.

The Jaeger Lecoultre Polaris (Made for the European and Commonwealth markets)