LeCoultre Polaris Reference E 859 on Bracelet Unpolished

Since my early days of collecting, the Polaris E 859 has been a grail. The Polaris is one of the legendary dive watches, and it began production by Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1965. The dial is signed simply “LeCoultre” for the American market while European market models are signed “Jaeger-LeCoultre”. The case is made by Ervin Piquerez (EPSA). It is massive and measures 42mm in diameter. It appear to be unpolished.

This is an early Polaris E 859 that was produced in circa 1965. The early examples feature chrome case backs without perforations. and often show some pitting. It is powered by the automatic Calibre 825 alarm with date movement made by Jaeger-LeCoultre. This version is very interesting in that it has a gilt glossy dial with a matte center disc, which is original and says MEMOVOX next to the triangle.. The watch also is very dressy with applied numerals. The watch is paired on its original 22mm JB Champion bullet link bracelet for the American market, which is worth about $2,000 by itself.

The watch came from the family of the original owner and is my favorite example of a 1965 example that I have held. I like how dressy the dial and hands are, which is an unusual contrast with the large case designed for diving. Some later examples of the 1965 models have straighter hands, but I prefer the more formal earlier dauphine hands paired with the thin hour markers.

The LeCoultre version for the American market differs from the Jaeger-LeCoultre version for the European market as LeCoultre is curved below 12:00 whereas the Jaeger-LeCoultre signature is straight and the LeCoultre version says “AUTOMATIC - ALARM - CALENDAR” curved above 6:00 whereas the Jaeger-LeCoultre version only says “AUTOMATIC” in a straight line above 6:00.

The watch does not come with box or papers. We do not know the service history, but it is running well.

Both Charlie and I think this is one of the ultimate vintage diving watches and this is a top quality example - the nicest we have held. These have in the past sold for as much as $50k USD. We don’t recommend you sleep on this as it may be many years until we get another example like this.

PRICE: $19,000 (Item SBUXYT3319)

ON HOLD