Le Coultre Polaris Brown Dial made in 1968

You are looking at one of the most beautiful vintage Diver there is: a Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris.

The 1950s were characterized by ocean exploration and related ocean activities for military, exploration or recreational purposes. It was during these years that some of the most iconic divers were made, such as the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms (1953) and the Rolex Submariner (1954).

In 1963 JLC introduced the Polaris. It was marketed as “a watch for a man of action”-whether he was a businessman, an explorer or simply an enthusiast, this was the watch he would wear. Water-resistant to 30 bar, the Polaris mounts an innovative three-layer, 16-hole compression caseback to improve sound transmission without overpowering its water resistance. 1,714 examples were produced between 1965 and 1970. By today’s standards this is not such an impressive number, but at the time it was considered a huge success, especially for such a “niche” watch. The 42 mm wide case , definitely oversized for the time, was made to give more space to the dial, improving legibility. The Polaris’ cases were made by Piquerez, a manufacturer of patented “Piquerez Compressor System” dive watch cases.

As you may have already noticed, the Polaris mounts 3 crowns . Each of these is finished with a “square” design-a common practice for dive watches of that era, also made by Longines or IWC’s 812AD Aquatimer.

The first winding crown serves the mechanism for the alarm function. By pulling it out, you can set it or turn it off.
The middle crown rotates the disc for the alarm.
The last, at 4 o’clock, is the “normal” crown, which winds the main mechanism and sets the date and time.

Powering the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris is the caliber K825, an ultra-reliable and robust automatic movement. This movement has already proven successful as it was incorporated into the Memovox model, and is technically quite original in that it falls into the bumper category. These types of movements were very unusual in that they did not have a rotor that could rotate freely through all 360 degrees but had two opposing springs that accumulated the “impact” energy when the rotor made contact with them.The production numbers for this Polaris are as follows:
9 units produced in 1967
1,214 units produced in 1968
55 units produced in 1970.
This Polaris dates from about 1968 , the pristine state of the case , accompanied by a dial that has turned a uniform and gorgeous Gianduia color gives it an incredible effect! The dial is complemented by a lovely ivory patina of the hour markers. There would be little to discuss ,this watch belongs to the top 10 most beautiful Submariners in the world. I am honored to have this diver for sale on my showcase.
Jaeger Le Coultre Polaris Brown dial
made in 1968

Case:
steel case in very good condition

Dial:
original JLC brown dial
in very good condition

Caseback:
original JLC caseback in very good condition

Bracelet:
leather strap

Accessorie: none

Price €30.000