Hello to All of you, Polaris Lovers.
And to All the others, who love Vintage,Iconic, Historical watches with a strong identity and charism.
Here's the re birht of one of these watches, that I'm glad, not to say..proud to introduce you, The Polaris.
I inivite those of you who don't already know well this watch to the Review...
jlc.watchprosite.com
For the others, here are the pics of a fantastic event which can be qualified of the official launch of the Polaris.
To begin, let me ontroduce you some usual suspects...
Asimuth ( Asi) who made the trip for the occasion from the Holy Land...And Yves Meylan, the JLC Director for France.
The 2 same guys with Yves, another Yves from Marseille, aka Dédé de Nantes...Asi is stuck on the Polaris Watches...LOL
And now, in big conversation, Andy..Our Andy who specially came frrom Maaaanchester for the event!!!
Were also attending to this event: Patrice, Marv,Jerome...now we are pacsed, my friend! LOLOL, and some other great guys from the mad watch world..
A special mention for Elisabeth Ville, Julie Tozo, and Philippe Pozzo Di Borgo, the JLC French Dream Team, for their sense of hospitality, their Champagne and Petits fours, even if I didn't have the time to eat and drink...LOL
Here's a pic of Elisabeth who was asked if a discount was possible on the Polaris...LOLOLOLOLOL
Do you hear her saying...NooooWay! ??? LMAO.
After great people, the great watches...
Let me first begin with the original watches.Wel, to be precise, I only took pics of a special watch I didn't already photographed, the Proto form 1963!
As I took a lot of pics of the vintage Polaris from 1968 in my review...
Enjoy these pics as you won't see many of this watch... The proto form 1963 rules, and this model is in very good condition, even perfect condition!
The most important charactersitics of this Polaris 1963/ 1965 are:
- A Dome plexy, spectacular!
- The metal indexes.
- A date window with a fine band of metal...
- The crowns, with a special design.
- Dauphine Hands.
- The writing on the dial: Jager Lecoultre at 12, Automatic at 6, and Swiss made just under.
A precision about the writing...On some 1963/ 1965 pieces, you will notice "Automlatic- Alarm- Calendar"...
This is NOT systematic, as some watches, like this Vintage one, just have " Automatic" written.
- " 3 ", " 6 ", and " 9 " are aplied, not painted numbers.
- The alarm sounds like a " Cricket", or a big frog.
- The date set is laborious, as you have to change the hour between 10 PM and 2 AM to set the date.
Now, let's see the Re Edition of this model...
All the characterstics above mentionned are respected...
The plexy is domed, and frankly...Gorgeous!
The Crowns are exactly the same than the vintage!
The dial has the same look, exactly the same, except one little thing that JLC will improve...
With the following macros, you'll see that the window date " eats " a bit the indexes of the alarm. JLC will rework it.
As the color of the indexes of the bezel, which will be more " silver ", as the original.
Indeed, a great job from the JLC team!
And on the wrist, the result is really wowowow!
Very comfortable, perfect size, big presence, class and elegant, this watch has all!
The original, and the re edition side by side? No problem, here you are, before you ask...LOL
Then, let's now have a look on the 1968 model...
The big difference is of course the dial.
The hands, the indexes, the window date are the main things that change on this version.
Here again, I'm very enthusiast by the work done on this watch!
The indexes are the same, as the hands, the alarm part...This watch is a perfcet re edition of the original 1968 model, even on the writings...
Each details has been perfectly thought and realized.
Some little improvemens will be done, like the window date, and maybe, the color of the indexes...
On the wrist, as its little sister...perfect!
One nice detail...On the original model, the symbol of the compressor was inside the case back, so, not visible...
Here, instead of a smooth non engraved case back, we'll have the symbol of the compressor engraved on the case back, the WR symbol, and the number of the watch in the LE series.
.
Nice, isn't it???
As for the alarm, and this comments are for both Polaris presented here...The sound is much more refined than in thevintage model, as the caliber is not the same, allowing also a quck set date, which will be a good news for all the Memovox owners.
It souns less froggy, more cricket, but a nice cricket, a refined one, with a smoking! LOL
The movement will beat at 28 800 vph, instead of the original 18 000.
To end with this long post, some macros of the dial of this version...as for you to appreciate the big and great work on this watch.
Now a tough question... If I had to choose between these 2 re editions, whicc one will I take???
...
...
...
BOTH!
Indeed , here's a last pic illustrating my answer...The 2 re editions, with the 2 original Polaris... Can't make my choice!!!
Hope you enjoyed this post...This year JLC proved that Innovation and Tradition are true words to describe this " Grande Maison"!
Best to All of You..from an Happy and excited guy!
Nicolas
This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-04-04 13:50:52 This message has been edited by Dje on 2008-04-05 01:27:24 This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-04-06 22:36:48