The Polaris Date by Jaeger-LeCoultre is an interesting timepiece, in part an everyday automatic watch, and in part a thoroughbred sports watch. It’s quite large at 42mm diameter and 13.1 mm thickness, but its steeply sloping lugs make it wearable and comfortable on the wrist.

Vintage inspiration

It’s interesting to compare the new Polaris Date with the 1968 Polaris Memovox that inspired the new collection. The shape of the numerals and hour markers with vanilla SuperLuminova, the case design and the inner rotating bezel are all close to the original. The 1968 Memovox, at least in the version shown here, was actually the same size, 42mm. The dial colour is the same, black. Of course the original Memovox had a third crown for the alarm function. In the new Polaris Date, the crown at 2 o’clock is used to adjust the internal bezel, while that at 4 o’clock is used to adjust the time and wind the watch. Photo on the right courtesy of www.db1983.com

Sports performance

It’s surprising that this the new Polaris, with its vintage character, is also the model having the most accentuated sports characteristics. It can be taken underwater, with a water resistance of 200 metres, and it has a resilient rubber strap with a folding buckle, or a steel bracelet. The inner rotating bezel can be used to time events. At the same time it’s a smart everyday watch and it can be considered as an alternative to the automatic, providing the date window for customers who like this feature.

Self-winding movement

The Polaris date has a solid case back with a diver engraving based on a similar motif that appears in the 1968 Polaris Memovox. So you can’t see the movement, which is the self-winding Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 899A/1. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hertz) and provides 38 hours power reserve.

Price and reference

The Polaris Date by Jaeger-LeCoultre costs €7,850 inclusive of VAT. It is reference 9068670. It will be available from April 2018. Further information from the Jaeger-LeCoultre website.