Given the splash Jaeger-LeCoultre’s sporty diving collection made at the beginning of the last year, it was only a matter of time before the armada was joined by a retro throwback limited edition. After all, we desperately need another vintage, 70s-inspired watch. Still, there’s no denying that the new Polaris Date Limited Edition is a seriously cool timepiece.

Based on the Polaris II from 1970, it has the same elongated Arabic numerals and trapezoidal hour markers as the rest of the collection. In keeping with the retro vibes though, these indexes are coated in vanilla-tinted lume, the same sort of colour that the original run would have had. As the name suggests, it’s equipped with a date window cutting into the 3 o’clock hour marker.

Really though the main change here is the colour. The new hand-lacquered dial is stunning, with its blue double-gradient and sunrayed, opaline finish with a clear grain. Depending on the light the inner disc and main dial shift between navy to royal blue to near-turquoise for an ever-changing dial.

Other than that the limited edition is much the same as the standard Polaris models. The 42mm stainless steel fits into the wider collection, round and tactile with its signature pair of crowns – one to wind and set the watch, the other to rotate the inner diving bezel – and the Calibre 899A / 1 automatic movement is everything you can expect from JLC. That is to say, beautifully-finished and reliably accurate.

Not that you can see the finishing of course; this being a retro diver, the caseback is entirely steel and engraved with a generous handful of motifs: A SCUBA insignia, the Jaeger-LeCoultre crest, the limited edition number of 800 and the phrase ‘1000 HOURS CONTROL’.

That last indicates the minimum amount of time the Polaris Date Limited Edition has undergone testing at the watchmaker’s manufacture, which should hold most divers in good stead. After all, if you’re underwater anywhere near that amount of time, something’s gone very, very wrong.