From content partner JustLuxe iW Magazine
Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces a perpetual calendar to its Polaris line, adding a classic calendar feature to a refined sports collection. The premiere brings together a series of Watches and Wonders 2022 launches related to the brand’s “Stellar Odyssey” theme for the year’s new releases.
Other launches include a pair of new Atmos models, two impressively large variants and two sparkling additions to the Rendez-Vous collection.
You may recall that in 2018, Jaeger-LeCoultre revived the Polaris name, adding to the collection named for the popular 1968 Memovox Polaris series of diving machines.
With the new Polaris Perpetual Calendar, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces Caliber 868AA, a new version of its existing perpetual calendar movement (first seen in 2013), which has here been upgraded to create produces an inverted display of the phases of the moon in the Southern Hemisphere. The update also increases the caliber’s power reserve to a full seventy hours. Fewer power outages make any calendar watch more practical.
Jaeger-LeCoultre colors the dial on the Polaris Perpetual Calendar in 42mm steel or rose gold with a deep blue tone to suggest the transition from day to night.
To reference the calendar’s origins in astronomical events, Jaeger-LeCoultre places the moon phases here at 6 o’clock, with an inverted display for the Southern Hemisphere, framing the display for its Northern counterpart. The new hands allow for more display of the watch face – and maintain the Polaris design code.
All of the Polaris codes are here, including the box crystal, a mixture of brushed and polished surfaces, and a rotatable top crown on the inner bezel. The bottom crown is used to set the time and wind the watch while the calendar settings are adjusted via a single pusher.
Price: $29,600 (steel) and $44,300 (rose gold).
Specifications: Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar
Case: 42mm x 11.97mm steel or rose gold.
Movement: Automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 868AA. Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, perpetual calendar with moon phase in two hemispheres and red security zone, internal rotating bezel. Power reserve is 70 hours and water resistance to 100 meters.
Dial: Gloss blue.
Strap: Ref. Q9088480 (steel) steel strap and rubber strap are interchangeable.
Refer to Q9082480 (rose gold) rubber strap and interchangeable alligator leather strap.
Additional Highlights from Jaeger-LeCoultre at Watches and Wonders 2022:
Master Hybris Artistica Caliber 945 Galaxia in rose gold (top) and Master Hybris Artistica Caliber 945 Atomium in white gold. Each is offered in a limited edition of five pieces. Price: $535,000 (white gold) and $515,000 (rose gold).
Master Grande Tradition Caliber 948, with universal flying tourbillon, world time display with 24-hour indicator. A limited edition of 20 pieces. Price: $227,000.
New Atmos Tellurium with Zodiac calendar (above). A limited edition of ten pieces: Price: $570,000.
Atmos Infinite, with the ‘almost eternal’ Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 570 (above). Price: $15,100.
Two additions to the Rendez-Vous collection are called the Rendez-Vous Star and the Rendez-Vous Dazzling Star (pictured above). In rose or white gold, the 36mm diamond-set watch possesses a unique complication in which a diamond-set ‘shooting star’ moves across the top of the dial at random times of the day, usually four to six times per hour. The shooting star can also be activated on demand with a number of crown rotations. Price: $75,500 (Bright Star only).
