Paying homage to their considerable dive watch heritage all the while drawing upon more than a hundred years of expertise in chiming watches, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the new Polaris Mariner Memovox and Mariner Date; two of the Manufacture’s most contemporary looking diver’s models to be released in a decade or so.
I’m trying to think back to when JLC brought out the last of their Diving series – since then (in terms of divers) they have been largely focused on vintage inspired models.
Even when the first modern POLARIS models debuted back in 2018, they seemed to have one foot firmly planted in the past whereas these two Mariner editions not only feel considerably more toolish but are also far more modern in their design.
They have chunkier crowns, larger skeletonized hands, a new red-tipped seconds pointer, the inclusion of a bold white 15-min track on the inner timing bezel and of course all those lovely pops of orange, most notably from the triangular 12hr inner bezel marker and the triangular Memovox marker on the Mariner Memovox.
Btw two other sporty or should we say diver’s feature that the Mariner watches also get are; easily distinguishable (from the hour hand) orange lumed minute hands.
I guess it would have been too much of a bold move to make the whole min. hand orange, but this is still pretty nice.
And talking of bold a final new diver’s feature that the Mariner gets is an orange security crown-sleeve, there to warn divers when the timing bezel’s crown is not fully screwed down; kinda’ like the little arrows on the crowns of JLC’s master compressor watches.
If you aren’t familiar with JLC’s Memovox, it has become a benchmark in wristwatch alarm calibers since it was introduced 70 years ago – apart from the now sadly defunct Vulcain’s Cricket, the Memovox is the only diver or nautical watch that I know of that has a mechanical alarm.
Back in the 50s, scuba diving was a risky and challenging, mostly military activity. The only tool available for diving was the wristwatch, which created a strong demand for professional diving instruments.
In 1959, JLC came up with a unique solution, a self-winding Memovox movement, which provided an audible warning that it was time to return to the surface.
This was followed in 1968 by the Memovox Polaris, with an inner rotating bezel as well as the alarm plus a triple-layer case-back for increased resonance.
So you might be surprised to learn that the Mariner Memovox has a Sapphire crystal case-back.
Memovox watches had always come with a closed steel case-back, to which the chime gong was attached; however, the Polaris Mariner Memovox has a see through sapphire case-back, allowing the wearer to view the hammer in action.
This required a complete redesign of the striking mechanism that sees the gong now being attached to the case-side.
Both Polaris Mariner models are based on the same 42mm, Stainless steel platform which is water-resistant to 300 meters.
The Mariner Date has a total height of 13.92mm while the Mariner Memovox has a case thickness of 15.63mm as it has to accommodate its mechanical alarm. Both variants fully comply with ISO 6425 norms for diver’s watch.
In fact both models are identical safe for those differences that have come about owing to their required functional components such as the additional crown for setting of the alarm.
Both Mariner watches get dials not too dissimilar to the Polaris BLUE Edition; these are sunrayed, grained and opaline finished, gradient blue dials. All hands, indexes and numerals are filled with SuperLumiNova.
The Mariner Date has a dual-crown configuration, typical of super compressor-type diver’s watch while the Memovox has the signature triple crowns of an early Memovox diver.
On the Mariner Date the upper crown operates the inner bezel while the lower one sets the time and date.
Meanwhile the upper crown of the Mariner Memovox controls the alarm, turning the central disc of the dial so that the triangular pointer lines up with the desired alarm time; the central crown operates the inner diver’s bezel and the bottom crown sets time.
Powering the Memovox variant is the JLC Caliber 956, a direct descendant of the first automatic alarm watch calibers. Introduced in 2008, it has been comprehensively revised by the Manufacture’s engineers for this latest generation of alarm watches.
The open-worked heavy metal rotor ensures an unobstructed view of the strike-works, its Côtes de Genève decoration matching the fine finishing on the movement plates.
One important element remains unchanged, however: the charming, signature “school bell” sound of the alarm.
Powering the Date variant is the JLC Caliber 899; JLC engineers have constantly updated it to incorporate the latest performance-enhancing technology.
The new-generation version powering the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Mariner Date is fitted with some technical improvements to guarantee a power reserve of up to 70 hours.
Btw in case you didn't know, that’s British actor, Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock) modeling the Polaris Mariner Memovox in the wrist shots, below.
He just made a short film ‘In a Breath’ with JLC on the Mariner Memovox where he makes use of the watches functions for a spot of mediation followed by some freediving off Rakino Island, New-Zealand.
Thoughts? If like me you were wondering when JLC might ever give us another modern diver – well here it is (sort of).
While its design harks back several decades, it has received some truly modern touches, but could they have pushed the modern elements just a tad further? I feel so but, it’s still great new offering.
What do you think; Memovox or Date? If you have the extra cash – it has to be the alarm.
No comments:
Post a Comment