The First Memovox, The 1951 Jaeger LeCoultre reference 3150 Wrist Alarm

Back in 2019, we made a video and wrote an article about a watch that we believed to be some of the best value in vintage watches. At that time, watches had a following, but nothing like what they have today. Collectors at the time were really looking for watches that would generate the highest level of enjoyment for every dollar/pound/euro/yen they paid. Our pick was the Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox, or Wrist Alarm.

Without spoiling why that was the watch to pick, the Memovox truly is such an incredibly unique watch. Made by a brand that is known as the “watchmakers watchmaker”, Jaeger LeCoultre produced such an incredible watch that housed movements with a striking mechanism that acted as an alarm for the wearer. These were extremely functional when they were released because it was an easy way to remind oneself of something important throughout the day.

We have covered a few Memovox watches over the years, but we final have the opportunity to cover the reference that started it all - the reference 3150. According to the advertisement below, the reference was first launched at the 1950 Basel fair, known as Baselworld to those who remember it taking place in recent years.

Credit: The Blomman Watch Report

According the research, at the show, Jaeger LeCoultre released the reference 3150 and the 3151. The difference between the two references were mainly driven by the case design. As one can see, the 3150 has tubed lugs that sit beneath the case. The 3151 has more traditional lugs, somewhat resembling a teardrop shape. These case and lug designs were not new. Jaeger LeCoultre used very similar designs in two, time-only watches. The reference 2211 used the same lug design as 3150 and the reference 9RE7 used the same case design as the 3151 lugs.

Credit: @fldx_clavi

These two references were sold between 1950 and 1952, a fairly short period of time. This version of the reference 3150 was manufactured in 1951. The watch has a 35mm stainless steel case in good condition, with some signs of wear. The watch has hooded, or sometimes referred to as ‘tube’ lugs that sit below the case, making the case sit taller on the wrist. Again, this was not a new design for JLC, but definitely a unique design when one looks at the entire history of the Wrist Alarm/Memovox’s that JLC produced.

The watch has a white dial that has aged nicely since the 50’s and has printed text. Both the alarm disc and outer dial match in ton, and have some moisture spots that look quite attractive. The watch has sword hands that are likely a replacement, or have been relumed. These sword hands can be seen on other reference 3150 and 3151’s, but the colour of the luminescent material does not match the aging of the rest of the watch. The crowns on these watches are typically signed with the JLC logo, but the two crowns on this version are unsigned, likely meaning they are replacements as well. This is a very common practice and it is becoming harder and harder to find JLC Memovox watches with their original signed crowns.

The watch runs on the caliber P489 manual wind movement. The caliber 489 was launched in 1950 and produced through to 1958. About 47,500 caliber 489 movements were produced throughout that time, so about 6,000 calibers produced each year. If we consider this straight-line estimate, only about 12,000 or so movements were produced during the production years of the reference 3150 and 3151, making this 3150 a fairly rare watch. Furthermore, research indicates that by the middle of 1951, the reference 3150 was already removed from some catalogues and was replaced by the 3151, making this watch probably even more rare.

The movement is a 12.5 lignes movement and oscillates at 18,000 vibrations per hour (vph). The version in this watch is the caliber P489; the “P” indicates that shock protection added to this movement. Parcechoc S.A, a shock-protection provider based in Le Sentier produced the Parachoc shock protection system which is part of this caliber 489 movement.

The Memovox will always be an extremely interesting fun watch to own and collect. The variety of these watches throughout the history of the brand keeps one as a collector engaged with researching, hunting, and discovering these exceptional watches. And it all started with the reference 3150.

Enjoy!