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Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox World Time (Ref. E855) 18K YG, 1960s — view 1 of 6
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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox World Time (Ref. E855) 18K YG, 1960s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Jaeger-LeCoultre (maker)
Date
1960s
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Stock no.
JLCMVWT
Credit line
Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (JLCMVWT)
Catalogue title (original)
1960s Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox World Time (Ref. E855) 18K YG (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number JLCMVWT), this is a wristwatch by Jaeger-LeCoultre, made in Switzerland, dated 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Craft & Tailored

In 1951 Jaeger LeCoultre released the now-famous Memovox. A double crown, a double mainspring-barrel timepiece that not only told the time, but sang it out whenever required. Later on, Jaeger LeCoultre decided that one preposterously complex complication wasn't enough so they went ahead and added a world time disk. And a beautifully elegant one at that. Now with a single watch, you could both set your alarm to leave for the airport and know the time at your destination. This type of innovation has always set Jaeger apart, and also makes us yearn for the era of constant horological boundary-pushing. SPECS Stock # JLCMVWT Brand Jaeger-LeCoultre Style Memovox World Timer Model E855 Serial 10XXXXX Size Men's Material 18k Yellow Gold Dial Silver Millimeters 37.5 Strap 2pc Handmade Leather Strap CASE & BRACELET The Memovox World Time features a gorgeous 18k yellow gold case measuring in at nearly 38 millimeters. It shows off long, slender and tapered lugs, and the signature dual crowns. The watch also features a gold screw-down two-part case back intended for water resistance. The watch comes supplied on a 2pc handmade leather strap. DIAL & HANDS The dial is a beautiful and softly aged silver with light spotting around the edges. The hour markers are gracefully tapered gold bars that shine off the dial and complement the darker gold of the dauphine, lume-filled hands. As already noted, the inner dial is dedicated to the world time functionality and features a rotating list of 24 major cities across the globe. Surrounding the inner alarm disc is a minute track with each lume plot present, the plots show minimal degradation and have taken on a dark patina. To be perfectly honest the description of this watch could have easily been summed up in one word, exquisite. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is functioning perfectly and keeping time, previous service history is unknown.

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Military, pilot and travel watches

The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.

In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.

What to look for

  • Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
  • High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
  • 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
  • Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
  • Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
  • GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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