Released at the SIHH 2018 a week and a half ago, Jaeger-LeCoultre hits a home run with the new Polaris line and in particular with this new chronograph that we absolutely love. The new Polaris collection is inspired by the iconic Memovox Polaris watch from 1968 and the new Polaris Chronograph WT —World Time— is a perfect example of how good is JLC at releasing new watches that give you a lot of bang for your buck with a slightly vintage feel to them.
Fitted with a 44 mm titanium case —the biggest case size of all five new watches within the new Polaris collection— and featuring an eye-catching combination of brushed and hand-polished surfaces, with sharp, plunging lugs and thin, rounded bezels, the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Chronograph WT features two crowns and two pushers for its chronograph. While the crown at 10 o'clock rotates the inner disc with 24 cities, the crown at 3 o'clock sets the time and winds the watch.
The Dial
Available exclusively in titanium, the new JLC Polaris Chronograph WT comes with either a blue or a black dial. Personally we like the blue dial better as its hue is simply out of this world. The dial combines three different finishes with a sunray finished center, graining on the outer circle where the applied markers are located and an opaline finish on its 24-hour ring and the 24-city rotating flange. The dial is without a doubt one of the best dials ever created by JLC.
The dial is very well balanced thanks to its bi-compax layout with 12-hour chronograph register at 9 o'clock and 30-minute register at 3 o'clock. The design gets rounded by the baguette-shaped hands with luminescent material.
The dark blue dial along with its three different textures, features three gradients of color conferring it with a rich depth that gets further enhanced by the white markers, white transfers on the flange and the red accents on the chronograph seconds hand and the day/night 24-hour ring.
The Calfskin Strap
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Chronograph WT is fitted with a brown calfskin strap for the blue dial version and with a black alligator or a light brown calfskin strap for the black dial version of this watch. The strap is very nice and supple and its equipped with a folding clasp.
The Movement & Case Back
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Chronograph WT is powered by the JLC automatic in-house calibre 752A. This double-barrel movement composed of 274 parts and 37 jewels provides a power reserve of 48 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph. The movement is fully visible via the display case back.
On the Wrist & Pricing
On the wrist, the new Polaris Chronograph WT wears true to its size and with remarkable wrist presence. Its light titanium case makes this watch a perfect companion for long haul trips across multiple time zones. Its world time function is one of the best in the horological world and a very useful and nice complication to own, when you want to know the time in 24 of the world's major cities simultaneously. While the black version is also very nice, we think that the blue dial is the way to go.
Sticker Price $14,500 USD on calfskin strap and $14,600 USD on alligator strap for the black model. For more info on Jaeger-LeCoultre click here.
