If you have followed Life on the Wrist, even for a short time, you are well aware of our love affair with the Memovox. The Memovox models, manufactured by Jaeger LeCoultre, feature an alarm complication. You can learn about the alarm complication in our series called Complication Explained. You can also see our discussion as to why the Memovox is some of the best value in vintage watches. Being huge advocates for these models, it is important that we cover exceptional quality examples of these watches. The reference we have today is the reference 3025 - a beautiful example of watchmaking from the 1960’s.

Before diving into the watch, lets discuss the history of the Memovox. At this time, another famous alarm watch was launched in 1949 called the Vulcain Cricket. Jaeger LeCoultre first launched this line of watches in 1950 but they were called the “Wrist Alarm”. There are some versions of these watches still around with “Wrist Alarm” written on the dial. Fast forward to the famous Basel Watch Fair that took place each year, JLC renamed this line of watches at the Memovox - a combination of two Latin words - “Memor” (Remember) and “Vox” (Memory).

Many other brands launched their own versions of alarm wrist watches, including Girard Perregaux with their alarm watches like the reference 7742 and Tudor with their Advisor.

The original references of the Memovox’s were launched with the caliber 489 manual wind movement. There was a small run of caliber 601 movements produced in 1953. This is known as a transitional caliber and is the most rare of the Memovox calibers. The same year, they introduced the caliber 814 movement. The new movement had additional shock protections, like the kif shock protection of the caliber K814 movement. In 1956, JLC produced their first automatic Memovox with the caliber 815 (no date) and caliber 825 (with date) which were both bumper movements. These movements were used famously used in their dive watches like the 200m rated Deep Sea. Additional calibers were released after this, but let’s save that for another time.

The reference 3025 was manufactured in 1962. This places the manfacturing of this watch towards the end of the use of the caliber 814, which was replaced in 1964 with the caliber 910 (no date) and 911 (with date). The watch has a lovely 10k gold filled case that measures 34mm in diameter. The reference features an incredibly beautiful silver dial that has some of the most beautiful patina on the inner alarm disc of the dial. The watch has applied hour markers, and JLC logo at 6 o’clock. The detailed finishing on the hands match the grooved finishing on the hour markers as well. The watch features two crowns, both with the JLC signature, one to wind the watch and the other to wind the alarm function.

Removing the caseback of the watch reveals additional information about the watch. The caseback shows that it was “cased and timed in USA”. An additional inscription on the caseback is the logo and stamp “S&W”. S&W was Schwab & Wuischpard Case Co. Schwab & Wuischpard was founded between the 1920’s and 1930’s and was located in Manhattan, New York. They were originally located across the street from the UN, but later relocated to Woodside, NY. They manufactured cases for companies like Hamilton, Elgin, Longines, Girard Perregaux, and Rolex. They closed their doors in 1963.

This indicates that the case was made by Schwab & Wuispard and brought together with the JLC caliber K815 movement, manufactured in Switzerland, and imported in the USA, which also features the “VXN” import stamp on the movement. To avoid high import taxes and duties on watches, Swiss brands for a period of time imported just the movements to the USA. LeCoultre’s brand was managed by the Longines-Wittnauer group in the USA and VXN was the import code used on LeCoultre movements. There is a misconception that VXN meant that Vacheron Constantin imported the movement because Vacheron Constantin watches used the same import code during this time. All this really means is that the US importing company used the stamp code for both brands.

The caliber K814 really is a beautiful finished movement. It is also interesting to listen to the alarm complication sound. Similar to repeater watches, different case designs and metals sound differently when an alarm, or repeater mechanism is working. We luckily had the opportunity to compare this watch live with the Girard Perregaux reference 7742 in stainless steel. The Girard Perregaux sounds deeper, and much louder than this reference 3025. The case on the JLC appears less thick, and has the gold plated case which sounds different than a completely steel case. To us, this is what makes watches so exciting!

The Memovox will always have a place in watchmaking history. They will also have an important place at Life on the Wrist, and this caliber 3025 is no exception. Incredible watchmaking, beautiful history, and patina to make any watch collector swoon.

Enjoy!