Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the Memovox alarm wristwatch in 1950 with the ref. E853, a hand-wound watch with a tiny chiming alarm hammer. The Memovox concept was applied to a dive-watch case in 1968 as the ref. E859 Memovox Polaris: a 42mm steel case with three crowns (one for time-setting, one for the alarm, one for the internal rotating dive bezel), 200m water resistance, and a perforated triple-walled caseback that allowed the alarm to be heard underwater. Approximately 1,714 examples of the original ref. E859 were produced before discontinuation in 1972, making it one of the rarest production JLC dive watches.
Vintage Memovox Polaris examples have become serious auction grails. Clean original ref. E859 examples regularly sell at USD 80,000-150,000+ at major auctions; the watch was rediscovered by collectors in the 2010s as a "lost icon" of 1960s dive-watch design. The triple-crown layout, the alarm complication, and the perforated caseback are unique to the Memovox Polaris and have not been duplicated by any other manufacture.
In 2018, JLC announced the modern Polaris collection at SIHH, formally reviving the name as a full sport-watch line. The launch included the Polaris Memovox (a faithful re-issue of the original alarm complication, ref. Q9038180), the Polaris Automatic (time-only sport watch, ref. 9008170), and the Polaris Chronograph (ref. 9028180). The 2018 design retained the internal rotating bezel and the three-crown arrangement on the Memovox variant, but moved to a more modern 42mm case with cleaner dial typography and an updated hand-set.
The current Polaris catalogue spans the Polaris Date (entry-level automatic, ~USD 7,800), Polaris Chronograph (Cal. 758D automatic chronograph, ~USD 13,800), Polaris Geographic (worldtimer with second time zone, ~USD 14,000), Polaris Mariner (300m sport watch with screw-down crowns), and the Polaris Memovox (alarm complication, ~USD 18,500-22,000). Limited editions include the Polaris Mariner Memovox and various JLC-Master Compressor crossover references. The Polaris has become the JLC Sport Watch flagship in the integrated-bracelet-sport-watch era.
