This or a Submariner

The JLC Polaris is absolute fire!

You know who else has one?  @Pascal 

Every time he posts a wrist shot of his, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the watch...  and with him.

I'm a big, big believer in "stealth wealth."  So, my inclination is to always get the thing that flies under the radar better.  If I see someone with a Sub, here's my reaction:

I see the Polaris on your wrist, and this is my reaction - from the famous scene in Silicon Valley:

Have you checked your parent's sock drawer?

Beautiful watch and I would rather go with the JLC. The problem with Rolex in my opinion (cost aside) it's popularity and how easy is to buy replicas or homages that it took the wow factor. I also spent very limited time with a Daytona and a Day Date let alone the polaris for me to tell you which one is the best watch to buy.

Never work blue.

Get the pretty one but don't wait 2 years for it.

Thanks for your input. I have wanted a Submariner for a long time but they are very common. I have a couple of basic rolex pieces already but feel I can get a much better watch for the money with the likes of JLC or even Zenith. 

There is no question that Zenith is a fantastic option too, if you are looking for a chrono. 

The El Primero movement is one of the best calibers you can get for that money. 

Zenith even has some models that measure the 10th of a second, so you can time your chicken nuggets for the perfect crust. I love when a chicken nugget is not very soft, neither very hard, a little crunchy but not too much, don't you?

So well, yeah, if you like chronos and chicken nuggets, get yourself a Zenith. 

That Polaris is smokin.  What about a SeaQ or a Bathyscaphe?

Well, he's got 3 commas, he should know.

Both excellent recommendations 👌   

YES!!!  The Triple Comma Club!  

Had dinner with a buddy of mine this past week.  He's telling me about how he and his wife hang out with these neighbors, their kids play together all the time, and the husband started up a company.  Totally normal dude.  They sit and talk about the Bengals all the time.  One day, buddy opens up the newspaper, and sees an article about the startup, it's just IPO'ed, and the dude is worth over $1B!!!

Buddy says to me, "Omeganut, do you know how much money $1B is?  It's so much money that if I had $1B, I would have my d&^% out right at this very moment.  Everyone here in this restaurant would be looking at my tiny p&^%$ right now!  Why?  I don't know!  Because I have $1B!!!"

That's the Triple Comma Club!

Perfection. Do it.

Good luck with your pursuit of this gorgeous watch!
I am planning on checking Polaris … and a few other watches this  weekend as well.  

Just do it.  JLC are awesome quality watches

I have this JLC Polaris Mariner Memovox  and I love it...if you can find one at your JLC boutique - snap it up. So much better than a Rolex Submariner. Just look at that beauty...and the movement puts the Rolex to shame.

definitely a banger watch, would pick it any day over the plain jane black date/no date sub. My diver grail still has to be the FF tho

thanks @Omeganut for bringing me in here ;)

Yea, I own a Polaris, the simple 3 hander blue w/o date and I also own a Submariner Hulk. I love the Polaris more. There are multiple reasons:

1. Case shape: I have a 16.5 cm wrist. The Hulk is slightly to big and bulky for my taste. The Polaris is thinner and the lugs taper so perfectly down that it looks like it is melted on my wrist. The Polaris in your picture is a Mariner Memovox, this is much chunkier, but has also an alarm function which is pretty cool. Even the the Mariner Date is much bigger than my Polaris. However all version have a more organic case shape than the Sub. Additionally I like the look with the two crowns more than the beefy crown guards.
2. Case finishing: the Polaris is hand finished with a wood stick (the videos from JLC are awesome how it is done) and you can feel it. Feeling the rough brushing with your fingertips is so satisfying. Additionally the lugs are multi faceted with two brushed and one polished side. The perfected Rolex finishing looks quite boring compared to this. Additionally, you get a sapphire case back at the Polaris to see the hand finished beautiful (but a bit small) movement.
3. The dial: I love the Hulk and its deep green sunburst dial, but it is discontinued. The blue of my Polaris is so deep and rich and thanks to the rehaut the dial looks endless. No bezel, only dial. The dial of all Polaris has multiple textures, you have a sunburst inner area, a granular ring with the numerals and minute track and the rehaut with a flat finishing. Additionally, I find the Polaris a bit more interesting with the Explorer like numerals.
4. The bezel/rehaut: My Polaris has no clicks in the rehaut, just friction. However it is not turning it self during the day, while my Sub gets turned by my sweater. The Polaris Mariner has a click bezel which makes it impossible to turn by itself.
5. The bracelet: The Polaris polished and brushed H-link bracelet is great, it looks good and wears fine. The clasp is solid and has 2 on-the-fly-extension option. However you cannot get a better bracelet than an Oyster bracelet, this is far superior, especially with the glidelock clasp.
6. Alarm function: if you really want to go for the Memovox, there is no way out: Polaris wins. Go to your AD (if not done yet) and here the alarm, so satisfying!!!
7. Gray marked value: There is no better option than the Sub! But here I refer to the next point. :)
8. Availability: you can go into an AD and buy the Polaris directly or with a short waiting time because they have to order it. No waiting list or years or buying history. So if you really cannot decide, buy the Polaris and go on the list for a Sub (so choose an AD that has JLC and Rolex). In 5 years you can compare them ;)

JLC all day long 👍 I've never being impressed by the Sub, it screams "Look at Me!!" and I must be just be old and boring but I like watches that impress me, not other people 😕

If you're considering others, then how about the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms? The general release or the recent rerelease of the "No Rad" variant are within the price range of the JLC.

When I looked at this I thought it was a Ball and now that I’ve read the post I gotta say, it still looks like a Ball. Which I like. 

That is a stunning piece. I would also suggest a Carl f Bucherer as i am looking to purchase one myself and looked at a lot of models and fell in love. the JLC would be an amazing choice as well.

Ha!  A VC friend of mine tells the story of a guy he knows being interviewed after a big IPO, after which he would still be the CEO and largest shareholder.  

Interviewer: "How does it feel to be worth $x?"

Founder: "I'll give you $100m to cut off your head.  Deal?"

Interviewer: "No"

Founder: "How does it feel to be worth $100m?"

If I were to spend 5 figures on a watch I would go JLC Polaris over Sub every time. If you disregard general public brand recognition it is, in my mind, the superior watch and far more attractive. However, I'm cheap and extremely frugal so will ignore both and by this one from Helm if the waitlist ever gets down to me. 

Great input. Thanks 

Take a look at the Amvox 2 crono also.  Really fascinating pusher free mechanism.  Very neat.

Submariner. What did you get in the end?

Solid choice. Got the same watch.