POLARIS, THE RE EDITION.

Apr 04, 2008,13:50 PM
 

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.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The 2 same guys with Yves, another Yves from Marseille, aka Dédé de Nantes...Asi is stuck on the Polaris Watches...LOL

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

And now, in big conversation, Andy..Our Andy who specially came frrom Maaaanchester for the event!!!

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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...

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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...

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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!

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The original, and the re edition side by side? No problem, here you are, before you ask...LOL

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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!

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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.

.Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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!!!

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

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


More posts: Memovox

  login to reply

Comments: view entire thread

 

Thank you Nicolas.....

 
 By: Andy : April 4th, 2008-14:06
The event was amazing and I would like to thank everybody I met for their hospitality and friendship during my visit. It is great to finally put faces to the names..!! There isn't much more to be said about the Polaris and both of the new versions are stu... 

Hey, Andy

 
 By: amanico : April 4th, 2008-14:12
This was great to meet you. hope we'll have other occasions to meet again! Did you like it? Best. Nicolas

Yesss !

 
 By: DrStrong : April 4th, 2008-14:15
Thanks for the great post as usual ! Too bad I have not been able to attend the presentation :-( It is very exciting to see that some smart people can make the re-edition of a 1960's watch without spoiling it with Luminova and a sapphire crystal ! And I k...  

Thanks, Jeff

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-22:45

WOW!!!

 
 By: patrickmaniac : April 4th, 2008-17:20
Thanks Nic for sharing your passion on the Polaris! Great pics of the vintages to compare with the re-ed. and the re-eds protos do the vintages some justice, very very similar. Wonder if any would come to Singapore eventhough there's a JLC boutique here.h... 

Finally....

 
 By: pplater : April 4th, 2008-18:51
... a re-edition that can truly claim to be a re-edition as opposed to an ' homage ' or an 'interpretation' - and not one, but two!! ["But wait, there's more...!!"]. For many, this is a great outcome. It will also be interesting to know what readers think... 

Great review.....

 
 By: sclamb : April 4th, 2008-19:17
I am sorry I missed such a great event. The Polaris looks superb and it must be very satisfying to see your efforts come to fruition. Simon

Thanks Nicolas

 
 By: patrickh : April 4th, 2008-20:59
for this great post, to be "watch" again and again before discovering real ones. We are thinking to be with you for this presentation. Wow for all details presented and your comments. Please to meet you soon. Best regards, Patrickh

Sir.Moderator very good post here!!

 
 By: BHK9 : April 4th, 2008-21:08
Hi nicolas, Very good read.....i like it,lots of pictures,short in story telling but full with facts,lots of sense of hummour......very easy to bite and digest.Good work!! Fot this.....i will definately going to get one RE-EDITION POLARIS!Both are perfect... 

You have to stop.....

 
 By: lagauvulin16 : April 4th, 2008-22:14
Nicolas, seriously, you are killing me here. I am going to be spending my children's college fund on watches if you keep doing these reviews. They are not born yet, but they are sure to come into this world in debt if I have to keep seeing pictures of Pol... 

Utkarch...LOL

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-23:10

Fantastic re-editions! I'm having trouble figuring out which ones are the originals!

 
 By: Allen : April 4th, 2008-23:52
I like the 1963/1965 edition a bit more. Thanks for these wonderful pics, Nicolas!

Thanks Nico for the report !

 
 By: foversta : April 5th, 2008-02:00
Gorgeous watches ! It's always difficult to make again a similar watch because I'm sure a lot of people don't agree about this. But they managed to do it, in fact twice, congrats to JLC and to the people involved in this project. Thanks again Nico for the... 

Indeed, both polaris are fantastic !

 
 By: Marv : April 5th, 2008-03:00
Thank you for this great post, Nicolas! This event was a real succes with also the participation of Marc AndrĂ© that was available to highlight some historical points. Thanks a lot to the JLC team! But - and there's always a but - I am facing now a challen... 

Roger, Marv!

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-23:20

The picture does not do her justice ;-)

 
 By: PoyFR : April 5th, 2008-06:46
Elisabeth Ville, the JLC Paris boutique Manager is nothing else but a sweat heart. She will give you anything she possibly can as well as well as ensuring a kind and generous welcome. A big thank you to Elisabeth, and above all, long life to her, and Juli... 

Any word on price?

 
 By: Moses. : April 5th, 2008-12:03

Thanks Nicolas,

 
 By: papillonwatchman : April 6th, 2008-09:00
For the artikel, love the dial, simple, clear, timeless, normal not a big fan of new editions, but this could even work for me. Cheers, Michel

Thanks Nicolas

 
 By: SJX : April 6th, 2008-09:42
This is a year of re-editions. - SJX

And the mandatory WS,

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-11:25
Taken this Week End, in the Normandy Sea Side... Sea, Sun, and ...Polaris! LOL Best. Nicolas...  

Thanks, simon

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-23:35

wow wow wow....I see your dream came true!...

 
 By: eric_s : April 6th, 2008-23:18
what a beautiful job they did on that one...the dial is very faithful it appears. It's nice to see some companies truly trying to return to their roots.... eric

Eric, my friend

 
 By: amanico : April 6th, 2008-23:38

WOW, thank you for sharing these beautiful

 
 By: bug : April 7th, 2008-01:31
photos of such a stunning piece. That domed plexi is simply divine. Hmm, would it be considered shilling if I offered my kidneys (LNIB) and/or liver (seen more moderate use, conservatively estimated 90 %) up for sale? Thanks again Jon

Perfection. Nothing more to say.

 
 By: Bill : April 7th, 2008-17:55
Wow Wow Wow!!!. Talk about faithful to the original design. I had to look over and over again to try and see the distinctions. So perfect. Thank you JLC and thank you Nicolas. I can't wait to see them in real life. Bill

NIce!!!

 
 By: mjnoumoff : April 7th, 2008-20:21
Great photos! The re-edition looks magnificent. thanks for sharing!!

Thank you, matt!

 
 By: amanico : April 10th, 2008-07:15

Flawed: Automatic-Alarm-Calendar vs Automatic!

 
 By: HerrK : April 8th, 2008-01:27
Nicolas, now that the Polaris remake has been widly acclaimed it is time for the critics! While the 1968 reedition has been done fine (apart from the use af an aged lookalike yellow luminous mass) the 1965 seems to be flawed in front of its historical bac... 

my 2 cents...

 
 By: Ilja : April 8th, 2008-14:24
Hi Christian, since you asked for my opinion I gonna share it. I don't like re-editions to begin with. This sort of products should be limited to brands like Heuer, Omega etc. From an accounting point of view understandable but for a die-hard collector li... 

Glad to read you here Ilja !

 
 By: Clavi : April 9th, 2008-03:22
...  

Great review Nicolas.

 
 By: Krieng : April 11th, 2008-02:35
I'm about to ask for the pic of comparison but seems like you were able to read our minds. thanks and cheers.