We were originally going to run a different article today but, overnight in our part of the world, Jaeger-Le Coultre have announced the launch of the strictly limited edition Memovox Deep Sea Alarm to be featured at SIHH as a special tribute to the original and legendary Memovox Deep Sea Alarm of the late 1950s.
The original Deep Sea Alarm watch was introduced by Jaeger-Le Coultre in 1959 and was the very first alarm diving watch, being launched two years before Vulcain released its nautical Cricket. While not known as well as the Polaris, the Deep Sea is considered the holy grail of vintage JLC sports watch collectors.
‘The Memovox Tribute To The Deep Sea’, as it is officially known, will be released in two distinct models: one for the European market in a limited edition of 959 pieces, and, it has to be said, an even more desirable model for the American market limited to just 359 pieces. The European version sports a black dial, while the US version has a two-tone anthracite and black dial. This was originally developed for the US market and bears the inscription “LeCoultre”, a historic allusion guaranteed to delight aficionados of the history of fine watchmaking. Both feature a 40.5mm steel case, JLC Caliber 956 (mechanical automatic), convex plexiglas display glass, and come on a black leather strap with pin buckle.
Why does the US get their own model? The reason apparently is that the US played a very powerful role in the development of modern dive watches, and the original Deep Sea Alarm was launched as a reaction to heavy demand from American divers.
The launch in 1959 followed a huge amount of interest generated in 1956 by Captain Jacques Cousteau in his famous film ‘The Silent World’. The film, revealing the wonders of the undersea world, caused an unprecedented craze for the new diving techniques that Cousteau had developed using air cylinders. The Memovox Deep Sea, water-resistant to 10 bar and with its alarm notifying divers of when to begin their re-ascent, was astonishingly popular.
Still riding the wave of success enjoyed by its diving watch range, Jaeger-LeCoultre pay tribute with these striking limited editions, each with identical characteristics to the original model (with the exception of the larger case) they’re sure to entice collectors.
Assuming you can get your hands on one, which is likely to be a feat no less difficult than breathing underwater, both watches will retail for around US$12,500. The watches will be available exclusively through JLC boutiques.
