The Birth of the Memovox
1950

Symbolizing the organization of time and efficiency of the post-war boom period, the Memovox, literally meaning “voice of memory” quickly became the watch of excellence for men. It’s striking mechanism gave a pleasant accent to the schedule of daily life: waking up, appointments, train timetables or parking meters.

The first Memovox models were hand wound, Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 489. Thanks to their exceptional quality Memovox Calibers continue their career today: representing exceptional longevity for the watchmaking world. In fact, the Memovox inspires Jaeger-LeCoultres two most iconic watch lines made today, the Master Compressor and AMVOX.

Memovox Timelines

1949 - Jaeger-LeCoultre develops the Memovox resulting in the caliber 489 manual wind wrist alarm.

1950/51 - The Memovox is brought to market and initially called "Wrist Alarm" using caliber 489. The watch is available in a variety of dial styles and case materials such as stainless steel, solid gold and gold filled. The watch is notably recognizable with its dual crowns. The top crown that winds and sets the alarm - while the bottom crown winds and sets the time. The watch is also available in a version with shock protection (caliber P489).

1953 - Caliber 814 is introduced. Design changes to the 489 are
noted; however, mostly to facilitate more efficient production and ease of service. With this new release came the addition of an additional shock protection option, caliber K814 which incorporated Kif shock protection. Also around this time, a small number of caliber 601 was produced - these were transitional calibers as the 489 was being phased out but before the 814 was released. These 601 calibers are quite scarce.

1956 - Jaeger-LeCoultre produces the first automatic bumper style Memovox, caliber 815 (no date) and caliber 825 (with date). These watches were very popular and produced in a variety of dials and case materials. The most famous use of these two movements was in the highly collectible and expensive divers watches. The 200m rated Deep Sea used the cal 815 and was produced between 1959 and 1961, with only 950 watches produced. The 42mm Polaris used both the alarm complication and JLC's super compressor technology, which was a precursor to today's Master Compressor watches. The Polaris used the cal 825 movement and was tested to 600m. It was produced from 1965 to 1969.

1964 - Caliber 910 (no date) and Caliber 911 (with date) is introduced replacing caliber 814. The new 910, still a manual wind movement, appeared to have incorporated Kif shock protection as standard equipment, removing other shock protection methods and the special shock protection designation as in previous calibers. By this time, shock protections was standard on all Memovox watches.

1969 - A huge milestone for Jaeger-LeCoultre is the development of the fully automatic bi-directional winding Memovox, resulting in the release of caliber 916. The 916 was a date version movement, which required a redesign of the alarm mechanism to allow the rotor to swing freely through 360 degrees. The 916 was the first alarm movement in history to incorporate a fully automatic winding system to wind both the timing and alarm mechanism. It ran at 28,800 beats per hour, compared to the 18,000 beats of all the previous calibers and is often called the "speedbeat", for obvious reasons. This movement developed into caliber 919, then caliber 918 - which was still used up to 2005 in the Master Compressor series.

Memovox Instructions

The Memovox Collection

The Birth of the Memovox1950

Memovox Timelines

Memovox Instructions

SOLD - Vintage 1970s Jaeger-LeCoultre Automatic Memovox HPG Cal. 916

Vintage 1950s Solid 14k Gold Jaeger-LeCountre Memovox cal. k814

Vintage 1950s LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Watch Caliber 814 in 10k Yellow Gold Filled - 100% Original

LeCoultre Memovox Wrist Alarm Caliber K814 in 10k Gold Filled Case Nice Fluted Lugs

SOLD - LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Caliber K814 in Stainless Steel. Item #3003

SOLD - LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Caliber K814 Ref 3014 in 10k Gold Filled Case

Unusual and Rare Vintage LeCoultre Memovox Pocket Watch Caliber K814 10k Gold Filled Case

Vintage Memovox for Sale

Vintage 1950's Jaeger-LeCoultre Euro Market Memovox Desk Alarm Near Mint Box and Papers

Rare Gubelin IPSOVOX LeCoultre Travel Memovox Cal. k814 Complete with Original Pouch

SOLD - LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Caliber K814 Ref 3025 in 10k Gold Filled Case

Early Vintage Stainless Steel Jaeger-LeCoulltre Memovox cal. 814k Vintage 1950s

SOLD - Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox cal 814 Parking Meter Dial vintage 1950s - RARE

SOLD - Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox cal 814 Parking Meter Dial vintage 1950s - Extremely Rare

SOLD - Early and 100% Original Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Cal 814 in 10k Gold Filled Case

SOLD - LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Watch Vintage 1950s Caliber 814 in Stainless Steel - 100% Original

SOLD - Vintage Stainless Steel Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox cal. K814 Manual Wind

SOLD - Early Vintage Stainless Steel Jaeger-LeCoulltre Memovox cal. 814

SOLD - Vintage 1950s Solid 14k Yellow Gold LeCoultre Wrist Alarm (Memovox)

SOLD - LeCoultre Memovox Alarm Watch Vintage 1950s Caliber 814 in Stainless Steel - 100% Original

SOLD - Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Reveil 144.8.94 Vintage Late 1990s - Rare

Vintage Watches

The Birth of the Memovox
1950