Jaeger-LeCoultre

And especially the Ref 3160...

Looking forward to admiring it,

Best,

Nicolas

And very interesting to see the pocket WT as well!

Didn’t know JLC made pocket WT.

 

 

Best

 

Blomman

In 1955, Henry Ford II issued Memovox watches to his top salesmen (and their wives) in a special boxed set. The men's watch was a U.S.-model Memovox reference modified with a Ford emblem on the dial at the 12 o'clock position. The lady's watch was a Longines model. The pair were packaged in a special custom-made his/hers tandem case with the Ford insignia and dual-signed by LeCoultre & Longines-Wittnauer (the U.S. distributor for LeCoultre watches). This presentation case is probably a much rarer find than the Memovox watch.

The men's Ford Memovox was issued under a couple of different references, case ref 9386 and ref 3015, both with flared lugs. There were also 2 different dial styles (stick hour markers or 3,6,9,12 arabic numerals) and also 2 different alarm dial styles, 2 different hand styles and 2 different sweep second colors. All of these variations are factory original and correct.

Below are a few examples of the men's Ford Memovox, showing the different variations. Trivia question: can you identify the car in the background? (Hint: it was produced the same year as the watch):








The case reference 3015 version:





For comparison, a couple of non-Ford examples of the ref 3015 showing a couple of dial variations:





And here's the special presentation box that the Ford watches came packaged in:








Enjoy!

Greg

I never heard, till now, about Lecoultre made for Ford Best Sellers!

And I'm working, at this moment, on Master Mariner watches, and more specifically, on a certain ...Chronometer made in 1958.

To say all, there is nothing on the net about these special Master Mariner.

The Lecoultre production is really a black hole for me, hence its interest!

Thanks for this awesome presentation, Greg.

Best,

Nicolas

The 1955 Ford special-edition Memovox models shown in my earlier post are relatively easy to find, but how many people know that AMC (American Motor Company) also commissioned a special edition Memovox as a sales presentation award? It was a 2-tone (stainless back) case reference 3016 (one digit off from the Ford case ref 3015) powered by a caliber 814. I have only seen one example of this watch in all my years collecting. Here it is (excuse the Vacheron pillow I shot pictures on):





The lugs on this case style were VERY delicate and I had 2 snap off while simply removing an old spring bar. I had to have them laser welded (stainless) back in place.

Greg

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thanks indeed for this very informative post. i have never known these interesting information before. it is really educating to me.

but i have a question regarding these two special case numbers 9386 and 3015, interestingly these two casings were not capture and mentioned in Zaf's book?

thanks so much anyway.

stefan

No, the 2 models don't appear in Zaf's book. I don't think Zaf makes the claim for his book to be an exhaustive reference on every Memovox model ever made (that would be a much much thicker book). In fact, his book is quite light on covering many of the U.S models which had different cases than the Swiss models.

Zaf mentioned that he's working on an update to his book that will likely include many more models. I look forward to seeing it!

Best regards,

Greg

... and also he can cover more US models in his 2nd edition.

after seeing so many your beautiful Memovoxs, just feel so much that i don't know... it is long way ahead for me!

thanks so much for sharing your collection!

stefan

But now I might have to reconsider!

 

Super cool stuff!

 

Love the His and Hers!

 

 

 

Best

 

Blomman

Nobody attempted the trivia question I posed about the car in the background (very recognizable for U.S. collectors): 1955 Thunderbird (same year as watch).

More trivia (complete with answer): Did you know that Henry Ford II commissioned another special watch in 1978 to commemorate their 75th year in business?

Perhaps the wrong forum, but here's a Cartier watch that Ford gave to dealers and their wives (I don't have the lady's model) a few years later:




No more non-JLCs..... I promise!

Greg

I had the Ford T in my mind...To say that I was far from truth, about the period and the car!

Best, my friend.

Nicolas

I have one as well but I wanted to know how do the origin band for these watches look. The one I have is a spandex band and is the same gold color as the watch.

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A 14K gold case reference 2744 (manual cal 911) shown in one of my earlier posts:



A circa 1967 14K gold case reference 2672 (cal 825):



A 2-tone case reference (unknown) cal 825



My "special" 14K Memovox cal 825. Please excuse the picture quality, as the pictures were taken almost 10 years ago with an old Sony Mavica before I started taking hi-resolution photos of my collection. This watch is being returned to me from Switzerland next month and I'll have better pictures:



By the way, here's the twin brother for my watch (pictures supplied by a Museum in Texas):



I've had a few other worldtime dial Memovoxes, but the pictures are on another server at work.

Enjoy!

Greg

I think you also have a very special Memo WT, which belonged to a prestigious personality, if I'm not wrong...

What a thema!

Thanks, once again, for the share!

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-15 00:04:27

many thanks, Greg once again.

stefan

World class, Greg!

 

Now it’s official – I won’t be able to sleep tonight!!!

 

 

Actually I am surprised that no one have joined with the new one yet.

I might have to make a change of that…

 

Is your special the one form the book..?!

Stunning!

 

 

Best

 

Blomman

I thought this was interesting..... a few different case references that share a common arrowhead dial style:

A gold-filled case ref 3041 caliber 814:



A gold-filled case ref 2676 cal 911



A case ref 2904 caliber 911:

Unfortunately one of the common once…

But at least I have one of all they marvels you are showing us.

 

 

 

 

Best

 

Blomman

A 14K gold case ref 2744 cal 911:




A 14K case ref 2102 cal 814

 

Oh, Nicolas – now you are hurting me again!

 

Stunning!

 

 

 

Best, my tempting friend!

 

Blomman

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A NOS gold-filled case ref 3107 Memovox Pocket Alarm money clip (all original)





A NOS rare aluminum-cased Memovox Pocket Alarm cal 814 (no case ref imprinted)




A NOS circa 1966 Memovox Pocket Alarm cal 814





Greg

You're absolutely right to remind us that Memovoxes are not ONLY wrist watches, but also pocket watches, clocks and so on...

Like the Manufacture, this Family is of some amazing diversity.

Best,

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-15 03:26:45

I love pocket alarms!

 

 

So beautiful!

 

Greg – you are killing me!!!

 

 

Best

 

Blomman