eBay’s Finest: 1st Generation Lecoultre Polaris Diving Alarm

Once in awhile I am truly blown away by what I find in random places. I remember spotting a 6265 in Bozeman, Montana and a vintage Omega officer’s chronograph in Chile. Where? eBay. Every time I post a round of finds here I usually also post a eBay find in Instagram stories. While a majority of my eBay finds are weekenders things like Ollech & Wajs, Seikonauts, or gold Heuers, they aren’t all lighthearted. Today, we have a real heavweight weighing in from Kansas. This absolutely gorgeous E859 is worth every word of a full feature.

The Polaris diving alarm is now a classic. Modern JLC have released and re-released modern interpretations in the masses. I’ve always been fascinated by dive alarms, but this is the original lineage. Leave it to the watchmaker’s watchmaker to engineering the most complex approach to a basic problem. While later generations of Polaris adopted wide lumed indices and a drilled caseback, this first generation has straight indices and a solid back. Following the Deep Sea Alarm and Memovox platform, the Polaris features three oversized crowns to turn the bezel and set alarm. This is the earliest dial configuration of the Polaris, with silver indices and small lume splots. It is a lovely and rare beast.

This example is a quite strong with one exception. The case completely unpolished and strong. However, it was worn by a diver in Miami religiously and, as such, the back has worn a decent amount. The rest is great. The dial is refinished in parts, but in a tasteful way. Its movement is relatively strong with only a small amount of corrosion on two plates. The watch could be spotless with a competent servicer, but I’d leave the wear points. They tell the story of watch life well lived.

Find this E859 Polaris here at eBay on offer for 18995 USD.