Jaeger-LeCoultre Introduces the Polaris Geographic
The 1960s were a golden era for dive watch design, and Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Polaris was among the decade’s best with its distinctive off-centre crown, modern Arabic numerals, and elongated trapezoidal indexes. When the Swiss luxury watchmaker revived the Polaris in 2018, it became one of the most distinctive vintage-style divers of the 21st century, too. This week Jaeger-LeCoultre made the Polaris lineup a bit more alluring — and a lot more sophisticated — with the launch of the Polaris Geographic, a world timer with a distinctly sporty look and a moody ocean-grey lacquer dial.Â
The Geographic complication has become something of a signature at Jaeger-LeCoultre, and the Polaris Geographic marks the first time it’s been included in the Polaris collection. The watch displays the second time zone in a large two-hand subdial at six, with a 24-hour day/night indicator in an adjacent subdial, and an aperture at the bottom of the dial that displays a list of cities in each of the 24 major time zones (those that observe daylight savings are marked with an asterisk). You set the world time function by turning the crown at 10 o’clock until you reach the city that closest matches your location, which causes the corresponding time to automatically be displayed in the world time subdial. In addition to its intuitive operation, a stop-seconds feature helps to ensure the travel time display will be accurate down to the second.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
The introduction of the Polaris Geographic marks the debut of a new ocean-grey lacquer dial that evokes the colour of a stormy sea and reflects Jaeger-LeCoultre’s commitment to the traditional métiers d’art of watchmaking. To create the dial’s gradient, up to six layers of colour are hand-applied to the dial followed by more than 30 coats of translucent lacquer, an exceptionally difficult process that adds depth and ethereal richness. A new Polaris Date model also gets the ocean-grey lacquer gradient treatment, while the Polaris Perpetual Calendar gets a new look with an upgraded pink gold case and a new gradient green lacquer dial.
With their glass-box crystals, narrow bezels, and vintage design elements, the new Polaris models pay homage to their 1960s namesake in their looks, but the movements inside are purely modern creations that embody all of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 21st-century know-how. The Polaris Geographic is powered by an automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 939 movement similar to the one used in the Master Control Geographic, with 295 components and a 70-hour power reserve. The Polaris Date uses the automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 899, which features a durable silicon escapement, and like all of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s movements, is designed, produced, finished, and assembled at the brand’s Swiss workshop in Vallée de Joux.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Geographic
The Polaris Perpetual Calendar, which was introduced in 2022, is the top of the Polaris line, with an automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 868 movement that will display the correct day, date, month, and year until 2100 without requiring adjustment. Presented with a black alligator strap and a textured rubber one in the same shade of dark green as the lacquered dial, the Perpetual Calendar — like every piece in the new collection — shows just how far the Polaris has come since its inception. Its unique aesthetics still speak to its origins in the 1960s, but the Polaris is now much more than a diver’s watch.
