The Swiss luxury watch brand’s new timepiece: the Polaris.

Swiss watchmakers are an inherently nostalgic tribe – hardly surprising when you consider its stock in trade is the deliberately anachronistic, traditionally crafted and defiantly analogue mechanical timepiece. A recent spate of rose-tinted retro revivals has proven that the valleys of the Jura Mountains echo not only with the clank of cowbells but the creak of 1960s and 1970s archives being wrenched open and brought back to life.

So hats off to Jaeger-LeCoultre – one of the Jura’s most capable and storied of watchmakers – for the crisp, contemporary aesthetic running throughout its new and surprisingly youthful Polaris sports collection, now available on MR PORTER.

The Polaris collection is inspired by a cult diving watch of the same name, which was launched 50 years ago. This was a particularly slick sub-aqua version of the broader Memovox collection – Jaeger-LeCoultre’s mechanical alarm watch.

Mr Charlie Chaplin famously wore one of its myriad variants, and scuba enthusiasts loved that the Polaris could audibly inform them when to resurface without having to squint at their wrists.

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new Polaris watches wear their vintage references lightly. However, we particularly like the dual-crown design of the Automatic and Date versions, drawn directly from 1968’s Memovox Polaris – the crown at four o’clock for setting the time, the other to twizzle an internal dive-time bezel. It’s doubtful you’ll really need the latter, given water-resistance is to a depth of 100m rather than a PADI-certified 200m, but it’s a welcome, satisfying detail.

The concentrically stepped dial contours and wedge-like numerals also date back to 1968, but they still feel bang-up-to-date. Turn the watch over and the precision mechanics ticking inside – admirable through a sapphire crystal window – are some of the finest available. All 195 of its tiny components machined from the raw metal, laboriously hand-decorated and assembled beneath Jaeger-LeCoultre’s single Le Sentier roof.

The most attractive feature of all, though? A starting price of just £5,800. For a Jaeger-LeCoultre, with all that in-house craftsmanship and copper-bottommed pedigree, it seems sensible to dive in.

But when to wear one? Boardroom, bar or beach are all appropriate situations for Polaris’s fresh-faced but steely-eyed sports watches, whether you go for the time-only (with or without date), chronograph or worldtimer variants. All are available in formal black, dapper royal blue, or sleek anthracite grey. Then there’s the case, which is made with stainless steel – alternately brushed and polished by hand to create contrasting surfaces that catch the light and accentuate its presence on the wrist.

And what to wear with a Polaris? Try some loafers to complement the distressed stitched-leather strap, or deck shoes with Wayfarers for the rubber option. And for the chunky steel bracelet on the Polaris Automatic? Anything, really, as long as you bring a confident swagger.