Sport Good
Jaeger-lecoultre marks the 50th anniversary of its vintage diver’s alarm watch with these new pieces
CLASSIC ELEGANT WATCHES the likes of Reverso and Rendez-vous are usually what horological giants, such as Jaeger-lecoultre, are famed for. So it’s reasonable for its sports watches to settle into the back seat — that is, until this year.
Inspired by its Memovox Polaris diver’s alarm watch from 1968, the 2018 Polaris Collection also marks the company’s signifi cant expansion into sports watches. There are five models: A three-hand automatic, two chronographs (one with world timer), and two vintage-inspired models. All have dials that feature an attractive combination of finishings: Memovox Polaris-inspired sunray finished core, grained outer circle, and opaline finished on the rotating inner bezel.
The highlight here is Polaris Memovox, a homage to its namesake predecessor and the only limited edition. As with the original, the 50th anniversary version has three crowns, one each to set the alarm, bi-directional rotating bezel, and time. Its self-winding calibre 956 features a striking mechanism with a gong, and a jumping-date system. Looks-wise, the watch recalls the original with a vintage-inspired dial, with vanilla Super-luminova indices, and stick-shaped hands. Cased in stainless steel, this diver’s watch is fitted with a rugged rubber strap and is water-resistant to up to 200m, with its caseback specially engraved with a Scuba diver motif first seen in the 1968 model.
Another vintage-style model is Polaris Date, which resembles the Polaris Memovox in appearance, right down to its Clous de Parispatterned rubber strap that you can swap for a sleek triple link bracelet. But unlike the triple-crowned Polaris Memovox, this bears a distinctive double crown, one each for the time and the diving-inspired inner rotating bezel. It is driven by an automatic calibre 899A/1.
On the other end of the spectrum is Polaris Automatic, an entry-level piece with the same double crown mechanism as Polaris Date. It also features interchangeable straps with a folding buckle. The watch, driven by an automatic calibre 898E/1, has 40 hours of power reserve.
Clearly, the Polaris Collection requires its chronographs. This year’s series includes two to highlight the brand’s sporty endeavour. Polaris Chronograph WT flaunts a titanium case that contains a self-winding calibre 752A, with in-house chronograph and world timer complication to boot. Besides two chronograph pushers, this watch has an additional crown at 10 o’clock for setting the rotating city disc to 23 selected cities around the world.
More understated but no less sophisticated is Polaris Chronograph, which fuses the quintessential Polaris aesthetic with the popular and practical complication, and includes other elements such as wide tachymeter scale, slim bezel, and totalisers. Available in steel or rose gold — the Chronograph is the only Polaris watch available in the latter — it is driven by the self-winding calibre 751H.