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Memovox (
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[wristwatch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...](_blank)
es with
alarm
An alarm device is a mechanism that gives an audible, visual or other kind of alarm signal to alert someone to a problem or condition that requires urgent attention.
Alphabetical musical instruments
Etymology
The word ''alarm'' comes from th ...
function of the Swiss watch manufacturer
Jaeger-LeCoultre
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre SA, or simply Jaeger-LeCoultre (), is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833 and is based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Since 2000, the company has been a fully owned subsidiary ...
.
History
In 1951, Jaeger-LeCoultre's first alarm wristwatch was released under the name Memovox.
[Franco Cologni, Douglas Kirkland and Maurizio Galimberti: "Jaeger-LeCoultre. La Grande Maison." Éditions Flammarion, 2006, .] The company
Vulcain had already produced the world's first alarm wristwatch named ''cricket'' in 1949. These first Memovox models were equipped with the
watch calibres K489, K489/1 or K601, which were wound manually.
[Zaf Basha: Jaeger LeCoultre. {{ISBN, 9780615223872.] The K601 also referred to a later
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
movement by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The time and alarm function were separated by constructing two separate
barrels
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
which ensured that the
power reserve
A power reserve indicator (originally called ) is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.
Overvi ...
of the clock was not reduced by triggering the alarm function. As a result, Memovox watches had two crowns for winding. Memovox watches were also sold with
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
on the
dial and bridge engraving by
Cartier Cartier may refer to:
People
* Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player
Places
* Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...
,
Gübelin (here under the name ''Ipsovox''),
Dunhill and
Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels is a French high-end luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals, and fairies, and hav ...
. From 1955 on, Memovoxes were also available equipped with the caliber K814 which had a date display.
Due to the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the Memovox models for the American market were printed and engraved with ''LeCoultre'' instead of ''Jaeger-LeCoultre'' until 1980. The calibers for the American market were encased in the USA in watch cases that were locally produced. Accordingly, the dials and case shapes used in the US models differ from the european ones. An exception were the case bottoms made of
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
, which were always engraved on the inside with ''LeCoultre'' on both European and US Memovox watches. The Memovoxes in North America were distributed by the company Vacheron-Constantin-LeCoultre, a subsidiary of
Longines
Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predec ...
-Wittnauer.
Automatic alarm wristwatch
In 1956 Jaeger-LeCoultre launched the K815 caliber, the world's first automatic alarm wristwatch, the ''Memovox Automatic''.
The automatic winding of this watch had a pendulum, which rotated in an angle of about 110 °, It was limited by two springs and stored the energy in the barrel for the time function.
For the company's 125th anniversary, the ''Memovox Parking'' was sold in 1958, with the central alarm disc on the dial printed with markings to set the parking time. At the same time the ''Memovox World'' Time was offered, with the time zones printed on the dial - it could therefore be used to calculate the time in other time zones.
Automatic alarm wristwatch for divers
In 1959, the ''Deep Sea Alarm Automatic'' (reference number E857), the world's first diver's watch with an alarm function was developed, containing the K815 caliber.
This watch had a non-rotatable bezel.
Automatic alarm wristwatch with date indication
Also in 1959, the ''Memovox Automatic'' (model E855) received a date display with the automatic caliber K825.
This calibre consisted of 241 individual parts and was built in a quantity of about 45,000 over the course of ten years.
The K825 was used in the models of the E855, the E859 (also referred to as ''Polaris'', in two versions of 1965 and 1968), and the E861.
The watch cases of the European version of the E855 were manufactured in stainless steel, in 14 carat yellow gold with stainless steel back, in 18 carat yellow
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and in 18 carat red gold. The dials of the European E855 existed in silvery-white, black, gold-colored (only in cases of gold), red or
lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
-like printing. The indices of the European E855 appeared in alternating forms over the ten years in following order: short and thin, long and thin, rectangular with three broad stripes, short with black middle line (French ''ébène'' for 'ebony'), or short without a middle line. The first form of the indices of the European E855 came with attached Arabic numerals "12" instead of the "JL" logo on later models. The last two forms of the indices came with an attached triangle on the central alarm disc of the clock to indicate the alarm, while in the earlier models the triangle was painted on the alarm indication disc. The first two forms of the indices were offered with watch hands in ''dauphine'' form, the last three, however, with ''bâton'' hands. Only the E855 model of the European version with white dial was made with all the aforementioned forms of indices.
The K825 was also made in Jaeger-LeCoultre E855 watches for Alfred Dunhill and Gübelin (here under the name ''Ipsovox''). The pendulum of these models was engraved with the names of these companies (instead of ''Jaeger-LeCoultre''), the dials were printed accordingly and provided with according logo. The US version of the E855 was also offered with the logo on the dial by
Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...
.
The E861 still possessed the caliber K825, as the last clock model. The watch case of the E861, being equipped with the following caliber K916 and new dials, was reused in the later model E873.
Automatic wristwatch with date for divers
Sold from 1965 and named ''Polaris'', the model E859 was a diver's watch with internal rotating bezel, for which the watch had a third crown.
The watch case was made of stainless steel had an enlarged diameter of 42 mm. This watch was offered in two editions (from 1965 and 1968) with different dials and hands. In both variants, a total of 1714 pieces were produced.
The 1965 version had applied metal indices and ''dauphine'' hands, while the indices of the 1968 version were printed and featured ''bâton'' hands. An additional perforated nickel-plated brass case back with 16 holes improved the sound transmission of the alarm in the 1968 version to compensate for the sound dampening by the wrist and by water.
Memovox Speed-beat
The calibre K916 was used from 1969 in Memovox models.
This caliber was equipped with an increased balance spring with 28,800 beats per hour and was therefore called a ''speed-beat'', compared to the K825 with 18,000 beats per hour. In addition, the K916 was equipped with a rotor mechanism that could utilize the full 360 ° in both directions to store mechanical energy in the barrel for the time function.
The K916 calibre was also available in a variety of watch cases: the E870 oval case with a rotating bezel, the E871 with a wide, rectangular case, the E872 with a rectangular case, the E873 with an oval case, the E874 and the E875 with a classic round case, the E876 with a pillow-shaped case and the Memovox Snowdrop E877 in a round
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
build. All K916 cases (except the E874) were available in stainless steel, while the E873, the E875 and the E877 models were also available in 18 carat yellow gold. The models E861, E870 and E873 of European watches were printed on the dial with ''GT'' for ''Grande Taille'' 'Large Size'' while the American watches were printes with ''HPG'' for 'High Precision Guaranteed''. The K916 was also used in watch cases from Girard-Perregaux with a corresponding rotor engraving and logo on the dial. These watches were sold by Girard-Perregaux (internal designation ''caliber GP 080'') and also by Tiffany & Co. with their logo. Likewise, the K916 was sold with a differing logo and rotor engraving in watch cases made by
Favre-Leuba under the name ''Memo Raider''. In addition, models with manual winding and the calibre K911 were available from Jaeger-LeCoultre under the name ''Memodate'', and at the same time in yellow gold cases made by Van Cleef & Arpels with a time zone bezel (model ''Traveler World Time'') and with gold-plated case as well as by
Hermès
Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...
.
Gong and perpetual calendar
Due to the
quartz crisis
The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world. , the caliber K916 and K911 were encased from 1969 to the late 1980s. On the occasion of the company's 150th anniversary in 1983, no special model of the Memovox was developed due to the crisis. For the 35th anniversary of the Memovox came in 1986, the ''Memovox Jubilee'' was released with K916 in yellow gold with a limited production number of 350 pieces.
It was not until 1989 that the next technical development was added with the ''Grand Réveil'' and the calibre K919. The K919, as the world's first caliber, had a wake-up function with a gong and a
perpetual calendar
A perpetual calendar is a calendar valid for many years, usually designed to look up the day of the week for a given date in the past or future.
For the Gregorian and Julian calendars, a perpetual calendar typically consists of one of three ...
with a four-digit year display and a
moon phase
Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...
display in addition to the time function with automatic winding. Through the gong, the "buzz" of the early Memovox models gave way to a "ringing" sound. The ''Grand Réveil'' was offered in yellow gold, red gold or
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
cases.
In 1994, the only ever Memovox and the world's first wrist alarm watch with a caseback made of sapphire crystal (with the hand- winding caliber K914) was released. In parallel with the K918 an alarm watch with automatic winding and gong was offered - not as Memovox, but as ''Master Reveil''. Both calibres were encased in stainless steel or red gold cases and equipped with white or black dials.
Vibration alarm
As a further development of the ''Grand Réveil'', the ''Master Grande Memovox'' with K909 followed in 2003 and from 2006 the ''Master Grand Réveil'' was available with the calibre K909/1-440C and an additional silent vibration alarm. Both watch cases were offered in rose gold and platinum, the latter also in stainless steel.
The Memovox was fitted with the caliber K956 and encased in stainless steel or pink gold cases in 2003, and from 2004, the Amvox 1 was produced in stainless steel or titanium cases. This caliber was also used in the diver's watches ''Master Compressor Memovox'' (in stainless steel or red gold) and ''Master Compressor Extreme-W alarm'' (with a second time zone and stainless steel or titanium cases).
In 2008, on the occasion of the company's 175th anniversary, the Memovox International was released in stainless steel or rose gold cases, as well as the ''Tribute to Polaris 1965'' in stainless steel or platinum, and the ''Tribute to Polaris 1968''. In 2011, two versions of the ''Tribute to Deep Sea Alarm Automatic'' were released in stainless steel cases, based on the design the original EU and US versions.
References
Watch models