BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Polaris arrived in 2018 – a time when I didn’t think “La Grande Maison” was headed in the right direction – it had stopped making the super distinctive Master Compressor watches, it stopped making the Reverso available with a bracelet for a bit, and was generally becoming uninteresting in my view. Nowadays, Jaeger-LeCoultre is back on track, and the Polaris has proven that it has earned its place in the lineup. This new version should suit even more tastes.
The new Polaris Date keeps the historically inspired sporting look of the first piece. When the Polaris Date was introduced in 2018, it had a 42mm x 13.1mm case.
This new revised piece has trimmed the size down to 40mm x 12.9mm, but it keeps the 200m water resistance and the stainless steel construction for real-world practicality. As well as being practical, the Polaris Date also looks great. I like that they kept the twin crowns with the inner rotating bezel, and the dark blue colouring with layered finishes makes it stand out.
Oddly, Jaeger-LeCoultre doesn’t seem to refer to this as a diving watch at all in the press stuff I’ve received, despite the original piece from 1968 being just that, but it has the specs and plenty of Super-LumiNova meaning it could be used as a luxurious diving watch. A blue canvas strap with a double-folding clasp secures the watch to the wrist.
Inside the watch is the self-winding calibre 899 which is visible through a sapphire crystal caseback, I believe the last Polaris Date had a closed off one so this is a nice improvement. The calibre is exactly as you’d expect from Jaeger-LeCoultre, a watchmaker often lauded as “the watchmaker’s watchmaker”, it’s 4.64mm thick with a 4Hz beat rate, has a 70-hour power reserve from one barrel, and it has 32 jewels and 218 components overall. The finishing is bound to be good as well, and it looks it based on what I can see in the press photos.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new Polaris Date has shaped up to be a great watch for someone looking for something sporty and different to the usual suspects when it comes to mechanical watches.
At $10,400 before sales tax, it’s a premium offering for sure, but it’s a watch I’d recommend viewing in person if you’re in the market, you can hardly go wrong with “La Grande Maison” these days.
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