Jaeger-LeCoultre

amanico
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A picturial hommage to an early Memovox: E 851.

A collector's life can be magic...

I wasn't ready to add another Memovox in my collection, as I still have a too long wish list, but there are days which bring their lot of surprise.

This Memovox is a real surprise.

While lunching with a friend of mine, I noticed the Memovox he wore on his wrist.

This one...

He asked me if I was interested in adding it into my collection...



This Memovox Ref E 851 is a divine surprise.

It is all original, and in great condition.

Its dial developped a very nice creamy patina, and the radium indexes are still ( weakly ) glowing in the dark as well as the losange blue heated hands.





Doesn't it have a military look with its numbers all around the dial?

The case is another detail which greatly contributes to the charm of this watch.

The volumes are elegant, with a diameter of 34 mm, and the watch is relatively thin, compared to an Automatic model.

The straight lugs are very nicely shaped, too, and have a lot of character, due to their thickness :





The 2 crowns are perfectly integrated to the case, and are unsigned, which is conform to this era:



The case back is like any other Ref " E "... Which stands for " Etanche ".

Not snap, but screwed, as every " E "..:



Under the case back is beating the very first Manual Memovox Movement, the Cal 489.







The movement number teaches us that this watch was released circa 1955, and my guess is that reference was in production for a few years ( maybe 3 or 4 ).

I don't know how many were made, and I'm waiting for some informations from the Manufacture about the years of production as well as the number of E 851 produced, though.

Numbers are one thing when it come to size, the real perception of the watch, in real, may differ a lot.

34 mm can be felt as small, while it is not disturbing at all, with this Memovox, which has a lot of elegance and coherence.

A Wristshot may convince you better than words:



Another coincidence is that I found, almost one year ago, another very special Vintage JLC which I will reveal very soon...

The funny thing is that the design of the dial is very close on these 2 watches, like if they were Sisters:



Indeed, a watch with character, and elegance.

A very nice surprise.

Best to All.

Nicolas.

PS: Correction post here:

jlc.watchprosite.com