Jaeger-LeCoultre

I just received my 68 and only the numbers glow in the dark, my understanding is that those with the wrong dial received a letter from JLC to change the dial for the correct one, is it possible to change it from the correct to the "wrong dial". It is really disappointing that such a beautiful watch has this problem, JLC should not forget that this is a diving watch and dial color should not bypass the luminosity/functionality of the dial. Is there a formal way to "complain" with JLC. Has someone done something to "fix" this?. I also has a 65 and love Polarises however when I ordered my 68 I had in my mind lume indexes as IMHO it is part of the watch's personality. Anyone can offer some help? Thanks.

I agree with you that this lack of lume in the index is a functionnal (and hitoric consistency) problem.

However, if you are frustrated by the lack of lume in the indexes of the '68, you should be equally frustrated by the lack of lume in the '65 reedition, as this clearly should have had luminous indexes too

(as per Marv posted 1965 catalog in the roll call thread, reproduced below)

 

Yes, you're right, the first dials came with a letter from JLC allowing a future change of the dial, till Dec 2009.

It is not possible to do the same with the new dial, I mean going from the new to the former one.

AFAIK, there won't be another dial, and there is nothing to do to solve this problem.

I perfectly understand your frustration, and I also regret that all doesn't come luminous on the Pola 68.

But, on the other side, even with this luminescent problem, it remains a lovely and Beautiful watch.

Best,

Nicolas

I have the same complaint so I emailed the client services director on the North American JLC website last week...she forwarded my complaint to the Technical Director and asked me to call him...but I haven't had the opportunity to do so. I wonder what the technical director is going to tell me.

I hope that JLC would consider re-issuing another dial that has luminova on the markers to match the functional aspect of the diver's watch. When the lume on the numbers and watch hands are green and the markers are painted a faint yellow, what's the point of making part of the dial appear "vintage" when the whole doesn't match? It would be better to let the luminova on the entire watch develop its own colour and patina with time.

My disappointment was that JLC went through so much effort to reproduce the watch, from the green box, to the plexi crystal, the replacement crystal, the soft rubber band and large tang: with all that attention to detail, why would they release a flawed dial and then re-release a painted non-lume dial when that is so much part of the essential character of the watch? All their pre-release information indicated that the markers, including the alarm markers would be lume. Many of these watches were pre-ordered and purchasers assumed that the delivered watch would match the specs.

The posted shots with the Polaris markers glowing are fantastic and I was hoping that the re-released tribute dials would do the same.

Aside from this rather big detail, I find all other aspects of the watch most pleasing.

could you please send me her email address by pm.

Hi Kronos, 

This is the email for the JLC "client services coordinator", Grace Fung 

[Email address suppressed for privacy]

Good luck and keep us all informed on the forum as to your progress on the issue.

Regards

David

<!-- *Leave ID* To add photos simply attach them to this email they will automatically appear below your message -->

Hi,

I share your concerns as I have one without the Lum as well. I would really like the e-mail address as well so that I can contact them to see if there is anything they can do. I still find it hard to believe that they have opted not to try to solve the problem and switch the dials. Really disappointing stance.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

Best

MSam.

 

 

 

This message has been edited by msam on 2009-05-19 01:13:07

Already received a reply from Grace stating that I will be contacted by the technical director of JLC I will keep you posted

thanks... I left a message on the machine of the technical director
today but he hasn't returned a call.

What I'm hoping for is that JLC consider recalling these dials to put
out a proper dial that has lume or replace those dials to owners who
want the lume. I don't really accept that a watch that retails for
$14K with 768 copies would skimp on this important detail of the
lume. Having no luminova on this version would make this edition the
least desirable of all the Polaris models in the future. I don't
understand why they would rush this product to market and not have it
correct before they released it. This will cost JLC more expencse,
headaches and goodwill than if they did it right the first place.

regards

David

On 20-May-09, at 3:22 PM,

For $14K I would expect better from JLC.

Today I received an this answer from JLC Concierge:

§ On the historical piece there was some luminescence on hands,
numerals and indexes thanks to the use of tritium. This material is now
forbidden.
Since the same performance cannot be reached with another material, we had
to do an arbitration between night /day aspect of the dial. On the new
piece, hands, numerals (12-6-9) are luminescent.

§ The flange of the historical piece was not luminescent. We kept this
feature on the new version and we kept a plexi for the glass.

At this time, there are not any plans for any dial changes.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of further assistance.

I do not understand the first point as tritium is not the issue, they made 2 dials with full lume for the same watch, I am seriously considering to take this to the next step, I paid for a watch that was different when presented and definitely different from what I expect, dont take me wrong I love he watch I just dont understand JLCs decisions and customer satisfaction.

Anyone else have received an answer?

Nicolas, what else can I do? Is there a way that all the customers that are not satisfied with this can contact JLC as a group?

Hi

Just to let you know I received the exact same response and no consideration was give to the actual questions I asked about creating an alternative dial using the lume applied to the 6,9,12 for the indices.

  It would seem that they have just fired out a standard response to everyone regardless of the questions asked.

Nicolas I like Kronos would really appreciate your assistance in trying to resolve this matter given your close association with the project and also in the interests of having a final product that you can really be proud of in every respect and not feel slightly disappointed.

Best

Msam

   

 

Hi msam,

I received the exact same response from the concierge today via
email. I tried unsuccessfully several times to speak directly to the
technical director of the North American branch.
It appears to be a stock response that doesn't make logical sense to
me, especially when the original tribute 68 recalled dial had lume on
the markers.
JLC should pursue perfection and should deliver the watch with the
specifications that they advertised. It leaves many recipients of
this fine watch somewhat disappointed as many were purchased sight
unseen based upon the hype and the interest generated by the company
and websites such as this excellent one. One of the coolest facets of
the watch was to see all the markers light up in the dark, as that is
an essential design feature of the enlarged markers, so to just have
painted markers seems a travesty.

On 26-May-09, at 9:30 PM,

And I can tell you that it has already been reported to JLC.

I fear it is definitive, but I know that some others are also speaking with God to see if things can't really be changed...

Will let you know.

Best,

Nicolas

How can we ask to be informed about mighty God's thoughts? I just feel now more disappointed with JLC with their answers, it really insulted my intelligence, one thing is that they have made a decision (good or bad) and another one is to think that we are all stupid to accept a dumb excuse. I have never talked to God but my expectation is that his/hers answers are smart ones.

Thank you for keeping me informed. I received the same email verbatim
back from the concierge today.

This is my response to her:
On 26-May-09, at 8:34 PM,

The answer, as you pointed out, is a nonsense.

How could the dialmaker be able to apply lume on the numbers, but could not manage to do the same on the large indexes ?

From a technical point of view, this answer doesn't make any sense, and from a customer relationship point of view, this is not showing great respect to the customers IQ !
(how could they imagine that one would be satisfied by such a false explanation ?)

This dial issue is putting a bit of shade on what was otherwise a very nice reproduction of the original watch.

I guess there is a lesson to learn for the future: manage your customers expectations, and be open when communicating on a 'problem'  (which should have been acknowledge as such) instead of trying to find an explanation none will believe.

your post was lost among the others.

At the presentation of the proto, we made some observations about the color to be used.

And this color was to be beige green.

So we were a bit surprised when we saw the first batch of orange indexes, but it was ( at least to me ) a nice outcome.

We never knew what would be the 2d batch of dials called " correct " dials.

I had a deceiving surprise when seeing the 2 batch, and while noticing that the indexes werent glowing in the dark.

I asked why, and I received the answer you posted some months ago.

So, I know the official answer.

The protos presented were clearly to be NOT definitive.

So, the definitive outcome ( most of all in the choice of the color of the luminescent indexes and hands ) were incertain.

THe problem with the Polaris is that it was the very first " special dial " they made, and they had to solve the problem of the plexy, too, which was new to them.

Please don't get me wrong, all I'm typing right now can't be taken as excuses.

I wrote it, and will write it again and again, I'm 100% with you and would prefer seeing a totally luminescent dial.

But, at the other side, the Polaris, even with this dial, is still a lovely watch.

Hope this will help you.

Best,

Nicolas.

PS: You can directly write to JLC to inform them that you don't understand this situation ,and that you're not happy with.

Hi all,

The technical director of JLC (North America) called me back today and
explained that the company had great difficulty technically using
Superluminova to re-create the lume on the markers. He said that the
superluminova was a difficult material to work with and could be
readily applied to the smaller areas such as the numbers and the watch
hands but they couldn't get the proper outcome with this material on
the markers. Apparently tritium was a much easier material to apply
to create luminescent markers for the original Polaris, but it is now
banned due to its radioactivity. When I asked why the original re-
called dials had the lume and the re-release did not, he stated that
attempts to get the right consistency, colour and edge-sharpness of
superluminova onto the larger surface area of the markers were
unsuccessful so they made an executive decision to release the dial
without the lume. He told me that there were no official plans to try
to correct this as JLC wasn't technically able to solve this problem
but he would notify me if ever a decision to re-fix the dial was made.

So that is the answer I received personally; somewhat disappointing to
be told that they couldn't fix it. Despite creating mind-boggling
mechanical marvels, the chemical technology was insurmountable for
JLC. If you have any further "inside" information that contradicts/
confirms this official explanation, it would be interesting.

Nevertheless, the reissue is still an extremely attractive watch as
Nicolas states and it is clear to see why the design is so iconic and
inspirational to a current generation of watches. I've worn mine
every day since I've received it a month ago.

David

On 27-May-09, at 4:10 PM,

Hi All,

Below is the reply that I received for JLC - not that dissimilar to what others have received and equally disappointing. 

Thank you again for your interest in Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The luminescence applied to the hands & numerals, apparently does not work well on the markers, as indicated by the original orange dials that are no longer in production. From a technical standpoint, it is more challenging to apply the luminescence to the markers, than to the hands & numerals.

Based on this reason and to stay true to the aesthetics of the original

1968 Polaris model, our Manufacture has decided to create the non-luminescent contrast of the markers on the dial. Without the use of tritium, the marker colors do not keep with the coloring of the original model.

We have informed our office in Switzerland of your requests, however at this time we do not have any plans for any dial changes.

Not to sure where to go from here.

Best

 

MSam 

 

You own a Polaris and you didn't join our Roll Call???



Best,

Nicolas

Hi,
Just got mine too... the Mk II dials..
Would have preferred the indexes to be lume too.
Check out my 'Guess the Dial" post and see..
In the dark, the Railmaster looks better than the Polaris.. and the indexes are only abit smaller than the trapezoids of the P68

Hope JLC comes round to let the owners have a choice...
Maybe we can start an online petition for owners who want the lumes??

That said.. the Polaris does look very very good....  and JLC did a great job on the tribute.

F

I for one would be happy to sign the petition if that's what it took to get some action.

Best

Mark S

 

Of course, I would sign a petition for luminescent dial, if that would
sway JLC to manufacture one at this time, long after the release of
the 2nd set of dials.

David

On 14-Aug-09, at 11:08 AM,