In The Books

The watch is not found within books on the brand, nor in those focused on the category of alarm watches. Hovever Leonhard Beitl’s compendium ‘Alarm am Arm. Der mechanische Armbandwecker von A-Z’, a Jaeger-LeCoultre catalogue from the 1970s features a similar travel alarm. Presented on the same page as a Polaris II Red E870 and Memovox Snowdrop Speedbeat reference E877 is a model designated as a reference 11076. While the case is also chrome, the difference can be seen in the luminous stick hands. The overall DNA is similar, except it is a calendar model. A variation of the model can be seen in the gilt reference 11074.

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Several months back I expressed an interest to Eric Wind that I had a desire to collect Jaeger-LeCoultre watches in a more serious manner (particularly those within their alarm line). After locating an advertisement which featured the reference 53 Eight-Day Alarm Clock, Wind had alluded to a follow-up timepiece for me to take a look at. It turned out he had sourced a second alarm model from the very same ad! Emphasizing it would be a great addition to my collection, I had little choice but to agree.

Yet there was still information I was eager to know. “What reference number was it? How many variations are there? Is there a specific time frame these were produced? How - and to whom - were these alarm watches marketed?” While some of the basics were fairly straightforward, more interesting details were yet to be discovered.

During a previous correspondence with a European collector, I was informed that advertisements (such as the one below) featured numbers which were “French references”. The codes typically appear to correspond with the movement size (ligne) in some capacity. Yet, they didn’t serve to identify what the more universally used reference numbers were. Within the same thread, I noticed a second ad featuring the pocket alarm watch, but no concrete details on the reference. I was uninterested in settling for the advertisements I had seen published on the internet and sought out others.

Reference 3157 aka “Travalarm”

The first insight came by way of interesting terminology discovered within a full-page ad circulating in American newspapers in 1957. Located adjacent to the iconic Atmos clock is the small travel clock described as the “Travalarm”. It features the same dauphine hands and elongated alarm isosceles triangle on the central rotating disk. If you look closely, it also encompasses the black ring that conceals the majority of the dial upon being enclosed.

Within the text, the watchmaker emphasizes that “a small clock of heirloom perfection can cost as little as $25 [while others can be upwards of] $10,000”! Funnily enough, the perpetual calendar pocket watch featured within the same advertisement cited as “The Most Complicated Watch in The World” is priced at $14,000. Perhaps the $10,000 claim was not including pocket watches or wristwatches. With that in mind, I may find myself hunting old ad copy for an insanely priced clock throughout the 1950s.

Originally retailed at $75, the Memovox pocket alarm wasn’t a cheap horological accessory. Comparatively, the much larger LeCoultre Obelisk (“Obelisque”) clock was only $39.95. As for a “wrist alarm”, one could have expected to pay in the ballpark of $110 - $150 during the late 1950s.

Moving into the early 1960s, a similar LeCoultre pocket alarm came up within a Kansas City retailer’s holiday advertisements. Diamant’s Watches for Christmas included a few interesting watches such as a Wittnauer chronograph, as well as an asymmetrical Hamilton Electric designed by Richard Airbib.

However the Travalarm was different in that it featured a textured hood, and what appeared to be hour markers (likely painted) in a 3, 6, 9, and 12 layout. The watch has a slight premium on it three years later at a whopping $79.50.

While learning the American market’s terminology was a success, ultimately finding the reference number the new priority. After searching further into the Swiss newspaper database, I was able to locate primary source material in the form of a 1956 ad published in Der Bund, Volume 107.

Within the ad, several timepieces from the golden era of JLC appeared. The likes of a Memovox reference 852 and reference 3158 pocket watch alarm accompanied the “Travalarm” timepiece designated as reference 3157. Quite notable is the difference in prices for the American market and Swiss market being marked as CHF 195. Perhaps this has to do with the higher production costs in Switzerland, or that the movements were imported to be assembled by US workers.

The caption of the reference 3157 mentions the Miniature Memovox being “an ideal gift for all occasions” and that it is “especially appreciated by ladies.”

Searching into the 60s, one last advertisement was found, again from Türler, which featured the reference 3157. The retail price for the model was CHF 225 and it is promoted alongside a reference E855. In the background, a gentleman is shown busily attending to a phone call.