The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris is one of the most storied sports watches in the brand's catalogue, born from a decade of pioneering work in underwater alarm timepieces. The lineage began in 1959 with the Memovox Deep Sea, the first diver's watch fitted with a mechanical alarm to remind a diver when it was time to ascend. That idea matured into the Memovox Polaris, whose definitive matte-dial reference E859 appeared in 1968 and gave the line its enduring name.
The E859 was a genuine technical landmark. To make an alarm audible underwater, Jaeger-LeCoultre built a patented triple caseback: an inner steel layer with compression sealing, a resonator to amplify the sound, and a perforated outer cover pierced with sixteen holes so the vibrations could escape rather than be muffled by a wetsuit. The watch carried three cross-hatched crowns, one for the time and date, one for the internal dive bezel, and one for the alarm. Only about 1,714 examples were produced before the line wound down around 1970, which is precisely why the vintage Polaris is now among the most coveted and valuable Jaeger-LeCoultre watches of all.
The model returned in 2008 with the Memovox Tribute to Polaris (Q2008470), a faithful 42mm re-edition limited to 768 pieces and powered by the automatic alarm Calibre 956. The full revival came at SIHH 2018, when Jaeger-LeCoultre turned the single icon into a complete sports collection for the watch's fiftieth anniversary. The new range kept the design codes of the original — trapezoidal indices, an inner rotating bezel, glass-box crystals and a sector dial in graduated blue or black — while modernising the engineering.
The 2018 collection spans several distinct models. The Polaris Automatic (Q9008170, Q9008470) is the 41mm three-hand entry point with the in-house Calibre 898E/1. The Polaris Date (Q906867J) is the most vintage-faithful, a 42mm watch with a rotating inner bezel, 200m water resistance and the Calibre 899. The Polaris Chronograph (Q9028480) is a 42mm twin-counter chronograph with a tachymeter and Calibre 751H, while the Polaris Chronograph WT (Q905T471) adds a world-time city ring in a 44mm titanium case with Calibre 752A. Crowning the anniversary was the Polaris Memovox (Q9038670), limited to 1,000 pieces, which brought the legendary diver's alarm back with the Calibre 956. Collectors are drawn to the Polaris for its rare blend of dive-watch heritage, in-house movements and a refined, less ubiquitous identity than its more famous rivals.
Bedesten Watches has sold authentic Jaeger-LeCoultre watches in Istanbul since 1999. Whether you are after a modern Polaris Automatic, a Polaris Date or Chronograph, or a sought-after limited edition, visit our Suadiye store in Kadıköy or message us on WhatsApp +90 532 327 88 26 for current stock and pricing.