08 Jun 2024
Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to enrich the Polaris collection in 2024. New to Polaris, the Maison’s signature Geographic travel time complication is reinterpreted for this elegant, sporty collection, while two existing models – Polaris Date and Polaris Perpetual Calendar – are offered with new dial colours.
When Jaeger-LeCoultre revived the historic Polaris name in 2018, it redefined the modern sporty-elegant watch with an entirely new line of timepieces conceived for everyday adventures. Deftly balancing the practical functions and robust capabilities of a sports watch with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s distinctively elegant and timeless aesthetic, the Polaris collection pays direct homage to the Maison’s eponymous diving watches of the 1960s.
With their high-performing calibres and distinctive style, the watches of the Polaris collection capture the sporting spirit of their predecessors, reinterpreting their vintage appeal in elegant and confidently contemporary style to create highly versatile, modern classics.
The Polaris collection’s strong design codes are anchored in cases distinguished by off-centred crowns, taut lines, glass-box crystals, narrow bezels and a dynamic mix of brushed and polished surfaces. The distinctive dial architecture is complemented by skeletonised hands, assertively designed Arabic numerals and elongated trapezoid indexes. All elements are coated in SuperLuminova for optimum legibility in low light conditions. Complex in construction, the Polaris dial is enhanced by gradient colour and the use of different decorative finishes – opaline, graining, sunray-brushing and snailing, according to the model – beneath a coating of rich and shiny lacquer. The colour is graduated from light to dark, adding great visual depth and dynamism to the dials.
Lacquering is a lengthy and exacting process, with each layer of coating being manually applied. It begins with the application of up to four layers of colour, then one or two layers of black, to create the gradient. The challenge lies in perfectly controlling both the shade and the gradient, so that the dial sections match perfectly. This is followed by 30 coats of translucent lacquer, to add depth and richness. The process is completed by polishing the components to a perfect finish.
Continuing the tradition of adding useful auxiliary functions to the Polaris collection, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces the Polaris Geographic. La Grande Maison’s unique interpretation of the travel watch, the Geographic has become a signature complication of the Manufacture.
Rather than indicating only the hour of a second time zone, the Geographic complication also provides a 24-hour Night and Day indicator and, in an aperture at the bottom of the dial, displays the name of a city relating to each of the 24 major time zones, with those that observe daylight savings clearly marked. This gives travellers the option of setting the second time according to location (by turning the crown at 10 o’clock), rather than needing to calculate the time difference; when a city is chosen, the corresponding time is automatically displayed. Thanks to a stop-seconds feature, this second time zone is accurate to the hour, minute and second.
The lacquer dial features a new colour – ocean-grey. Evocative with an air of mystery, calling to mind the colour of the sea on a cloudy day, it is applied in a double gradient finish that adds visual depth and dynamism, and is coated with 35 layers of lacquer. The displays are arranged in a pleasingly asymmetric layout, with the second time zone in a sub-dial at 6 o’clock and the power reserve indicator in the upper left sector of the dial. Orange accents draw the eye to key information points, contrasting with the ocean-grey and adding a lively touch to the overall composition.
The sapphire crystal case-back reveals the finely finished automatic movement, Calibre 939. A quintessential example of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s approach to watchmaking, which combines mechanical elegance with high performance, it offers a power reserve of 70 hours. Like all of the Maison’s calibres, the movement was designed, produced, finished and assembled within its own Manufacture in Switzerland’s Valle?e de Joux.
Underlining the versatility of this confident and refined expression of a highly useful complication, the new Polaris Geographic is presented with an interchangeable folding buckle and a pair of interchangeable straps – textured black rubber and blue-grey canvas – that enable a change in style and attitude in a matter of moments.
The Polaris collection is further enriched as two models are offered with new dial colours – created with the Polaris collection specifically in mind. The Polaris Date is presented with a gradient ocean-grey dial that elevates the confident modernity of its design to a new level and the Polaris Perpetual Calendar is offered in pink gold with an elegant and visually striking gradient green dial that perfectly complements the richness and warmth of the case metal. Both dials feature the Polaris signatures of three different surface textures, and double-gradient colour finished with 35 layers of lacquer to create visual richness and depth. Subtle orange highlights add a note of sporty dynamism.
Introduced in 2018, the year that the contemporary Polaris collection was launched, the Polaris Date is the epitome of sporty elegance, its link to the design of the Maison’s classic 1960s diving watches very evident in the uncomplicated modernity of the dial, as well as the signature double crown. One crown is used for adjusting the time, the other for rotating the inner bezel. Visible through the sapphire case-back, the new-generation automatic Calibre 899, entirely created in-house, offers a 70-hour power reserve – highly practical for today’s active lifestyles. The Polaris Date is presented on a textured rubber strap that is easily interchangeable with a metal bracelet of other straps from the Polaris range. The 42mm steel case is water-resistant to 20 bar.
The Polaris Perpetual Calendar, introduced to the collection in 2022, features one of horology’s most complex, useful and greatly prized complications. A miniature mechanical computer, the perpetual calendar always shows the correct date, automatically adjusting for the different duration of months and even for leap years. It needs no manual correction until 2100, and, after that, only on centenaries that are not also leap years. The automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 868, offering a power reserve of 70 hours, was designed, produced and assembled within the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre.
With an emphasis on symmetry and legibility, three slightly recessed sub-dials display the date, day and month, balanced by a moon-phase display at 6 o’clock, which features the age of the moon as well as its phases in both Hemispheres – a pleasing reminder that calendars had their origins in astronomical phenomena. The 42mm pink gold case features an interchangeable strap system enabling rapid changes between the two straps presented with the Polaris Perpetual Calendar – black alligator for a more dressy mood and textured dark green rubber for a more sporty style.
The new additions to the Polaris line amplify the relaxed and contemporary elegance of the collection, while underlining its sporty and purposeful character, anchoring it ever more strongly as a modern classic perfectly suited to life’s everyday adventures.
