Friends,

Long time since I shared my Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox E 855 with you here.

Not long ago I received two of them back from my watchmaker, so now I am finally able to show you a family shot!

A classic, elegant and one of the most common vintage Memovox there is.

IMO, within the Memovox family, the E 855 is a must.

That is why I think this reference deserves a separate Vintage Ads post.

The base is as said classic, with a good size (37 mm).

Clean but with finesse, hours, minutes, seconds, date and of course the alarm.

Inside you have a true work horse, the Calibre 825 bumper automatic, based on the Cal 815 with the additional date function.

Even if this is a “Sport chic” watch for the time period, there are so many dial variations that you can actually build a collection just around the E 855.

First trace in documentations I have in my library is from 1960.

French catalogue, 1960:

Notice the larger luminous fields of the hands?

A common belief is that these triangular luminous hands were on all the early E 855, later on to be replaced by hands with thinner lines of luminous.

BUT, here I have to disagree. Why? Look at this scan from the same year.

French ad, 1960.

Here the thin line hands are clearly shown.

Here is a smaller version of the same ad.

French ad, 1960.

This next ad is quite interesting.

AFAIK, at this point Jaeger-LeCoultre didn’t have any in-house chronograph movement.

But if you look at the background, manual column wheel chronograph movement...!

French ad, 1961.

Here is a smaller version of the same ad.

French ad, 1961.

Next ad really shows the diversity of the JLC collection.

Ultra-thin watches, dress watches, Atmos, baguette movement clocks, table clocks and Memovox!

French ad, 1964.

Advertising following the outside world: 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

“No time for second best”

“When the Olympians of the watchmaking world set the pace,…”

English ad, 1964.

Another common belief is that the “12” on top dial were only in use on the early E 855, later to be replace by the “JL” logo.

I am not saying this is proof (because we all saw several examples of mismatching advertisements) but look at this scan.

Classic “JL” logo.

German catalogue, 1965.

And then have a look at this scan. “12” on top.

English catalogue, 1966.

“un veritable outil a vivre”… A real live tool.

Indeed, the Memovox function is a very lively tool!

French ad, 1967.

Here is a smaller version of the same ad.

Notice all the pocket Memovoxes?

I already wrote a post about them a few years back: www.watchprosite.com

French ad, 1967.

Even side-by-side with icons, the E 855 hold its ground!

“pour l'homme d'action”… For the man in action.

French ad, 1969.

Now we are closing in on the end of the E 855 era.

A period that spanned well over a decade…

And in the end of its lifecycle a new dial version emerged with short and wider indexes.

French catalogue, 1970.

I don’t know why but these eyes never leave my untouched…

The year after, in 1971 “the new kids on the block” enters the catalogue, with the Cal 916, Speed beat inside.

The first full rotor automatic Memovox movement from Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Speed beat due to its 28800 frequency, while the Cal 825 hold the slower 18000 frequency.

English catalogue, 1971.

The very last trace of the E 855 I found in my library is this ad from 1974.

And we are back to the “un veritable outil a vivre”… A real live tool.

French ad, 1974.

So many dial versions, but they all share the timeless elegance of the E 855!

Black dial.

White dial.

Ebony index dial.

Short wide index dial.

And one of the last dial versions made, the scale dial.

Next time I guess I should cover the Memovox with the Cal 916 inside…

But until then, I hope you enjoyed this post!

Best

Blomman

Vintage Ads: The Series 2.0 "the Comeback" – 1960s LeCoultre Memovoxes: www.watchprosite.com