On the hunt for a tuxedo dial Memovox

Hello!

For whatever reason, as I've started indulging my interest in watches, I've found myself more and more drawn to vintage watches. I'm not sure why. I think it's some combination of the excitement of hunting for them, finding unique watches, and the general look/aesthetic of the watches.

Recently, I've become interested in finding a black/white, tuxedo dial Memovox. I just love the look because a tuxedo dial is so distinctive, and I'm drawn to the quirkiness/functionality of a Memovox. These are pics of the type I'm looking for.


What a beauty! I love the tuxedo dial and the warmth of the white. It's almost like mother of pearl. I also like how striking the indices are, with the little circle markers. The lugs are nice and refined looking too. Very elegant.


This one's great too. I love the speckled white center. It's like an ostrich egg. I also like the hands of this one more, which serve to make the dial a little more striking to me.

Until I find one I love, I'm going to keep looking and would like to post the ones I find interesting and get everyone's thoughts. It seems like that is the best way to learn about a particular type of watch, especially from this forum which is full of really knowledgeable people.

This is one that I found pretty interesting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SERVICED-J...ANICAL-ALARM-WRISTWATCH-WITH-BOX/293090050909
I like the stick indices more than I like the dagger ones, but this one seems interesting. I wish it were more "black and white," and I wish it had the small minute markers, which add depth to the dial.

What do you guys think of this one in terms of quality, the type, etc? Are there things I should be on the look out for when getting a vintage Memovox? I've gone through the forum and read the posts about them (and the Hodinkee article), but any advice and insights are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for the responses!

@Dan S I agree, the first one has some weird looking parts, particularly the second hand. I did think the lugs, though, were supposed to be more rounded and curved, but going forward I'll make sure to check if it's because it's been over-polished.

I also, see what you mean on the last watch w/ the repainted outer dial. I wouldn't have been able to detect the fake Memovox hands, so thank you for pointing that out.

@gatorcpa That's very interesting that the tuxedo configuration may not be a real design. That would severely change my opinion on them, so I'll look into that as I continue reading about them.

It's a redial, but other than that it is ok. The hands should have lume on the tips and are common on early memovoxes.

@Vitezi Wow. That site has a treasure trove of material. Thanks for the link! - From looking through that and Blomman's own site, it does appear that a two-tone, black outside and white inside, "tuxedo" dial does not exist. It's incredible how some people post them, give a ref number to show validity, and describe it as "ultra rare"... But I've definitely caught the Memovox bug and will continue my research. Thanks again!

Just wanted to close the loop here to do what I can to contribute to our collective wisdom.

1) First, thanks to everyone who replied to this post. You were all super helpful, and I learned (and continue to learn) a lot!

2) It appears that JLC likely did NOT make a two-tone, black-white, "tuxedo" dial Memovox. I believe all the ones that are being sold are mods that switch a black and white/silver Memovox dial, or are repainted dials.

3) It looks like the closest that JLC made was this white-blue, two-tone Memovox. Specifically a "Jaeger-LeCoultre E 875 Memovox Two Tone."

I think it looks great, but it's not the black outer and white inner dial that I was originally thinking of.


4) https://blommanwatchreport.com/
This site has a lot of cool stuff about JLC Memovoxes and other watches. I've also emailed back and forth with Blomman, and he's super nice, responsive, and helpful.

BUT, if anyone does find evidence that a black-white, two-tone Memovox exists, please let me know! 😀

If you like that dial style so much have you checked out Omega 30t2 bullseye? there are some very attractive manual wind dressy pieces that fit in with this style.

Thanks for putting me onto this. I do really like that look and like how they do that ring just around the numbers. I will take it into consideration!

I love how that bullseye is done. GREAT find. Worth the 10 years looking for it. I bet there's a great story behind it!

@gatorcpa That's still a good story. That's incredible you got it below commodity value. Unreal.

@Tony C. Thanks for the link. Nice looking piece. It's cool to see that full sets can still be had for (relatively) affordable prices. Which one do you have?