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Vintage Ads: The Series 2.1 – Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox E 855

blomman Mr Blue
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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!

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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:

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Notice the larger luminous fields of the hands?

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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.

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

French ad, 1960.

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Here the thin line hands are clearly shown.

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Here is a smaller version of the same ad.

French ad, 1960.

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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...!

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French ad, 1961.

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Here is a smaller version of the same ad.

French ad, 1961.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

English catalogue, 1966.

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

Indeed, the Memovox function is a very lively tool!

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French ad, 1967.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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Black dial.

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White dial.

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Ebony index dial.

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Short wide index dial.

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

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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

 

Comments:
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amanico September 13th, 2016-14:23
Fantastic compilation of vintage ads, my friend. And many interesting points. Especially on the 12 instead of JL logo at 12 on the E 855 white. Now, I wonder if your alarm disc is correct on your E 855 blue scale.I always had the feeling that it should be blue, too. What a colection you have: Watches ad... 
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blomman Mr Blue September 14th, 2016-09:37
Well, my reply will be Yes and No.... Any documents I have see shows with blue centrum dial. But I saw several with exactly the same configuration like mine. So, I am not 100 % of Yes or No... Either way I think it is a very cool one! Thank you, Nicolas. Best Blomman
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amanico September 14th, 2016-09:41
That we'll have to investigate. For the moment, I didn't see anything conclusive, Factually...
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blomman Mr Blue September 14th, 2016-13:59
Maybe you could ask the Manufacture if they have any records?  
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amanico September 14th, 2016-14:01
That's what I have in mind.  
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blomman Mr Blue September 14th, 2016-14:09
:)  
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jml_watches September 13th, 2016-15:08
Great post Really interesting post - tracking the model and its changes through advertising for it. I can see why you're so struck by the E855 series - and why you could just collect them in isolation. The shots of yours are fab too - though the final one, the blue ... 
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blomman Mr Blue September 14th, 2016-09:38
Indeed, you could build an entire collection around the E 855! From a alarm collector to another, thank you! Best Blomman
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NT931 September 18th, 2016-05:30
I'd agree! They're all lovely but the blue one ... ah that one is simply sublime.
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blomman Mr Blue September 18th, 2016-13:40
Thank you! Yes, very different from what we are used to see here! Best Blomman
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amanico
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