Jaeger-LeCoultre Introduces Two Diamond Delights With Legendary Caliber 101
Measuring 14 mm in length, 4.8 mm in width, and at just 3.4 mm thick is caliber 101 a gem of a movement that weighs just a gram. It was created in 1929 to be fitted in the petite ladies’ watches that were in fashion at the time. What makes this movement even more exceptional is that Jaeger-LeCoultre has continuously kept it in production. As it is so small, it is even today complex to make, and only the brands’ finest watchmakers work on it. Queen Elizabeth II wore a Jaeger-LeCoultre with this caliber during her coronation, after being given one when she was still a princess by the French President Alfred Lebrun.
The beauty of such a small caliber cannot only be found in the fact that it is technically so challenging to make, but also in the fact that it is just as well finished as other calibers by Jaeger-LeCoultre. Thanks to its small size it can easily be tucked away into a design where the movement is not the main attraction. Jewelry watches are often all about the gemstones, leaving little room for anything else. A quartz movement has ever since its invention been a staple for such watches, but with these two new 101-models, Jaeger-LeCoultre shows us that there is another way.
The Snowdrop’s appearance, the first of the two new watches, is based on a white flower that grows through the snow during the winter in the Vallee de Joux. To achieve its resemblance, Jaeger-LeCoultre used pear-shaped diamonds to surround the dial. To create the entire watch, 904 diamonds are set, and unlike most diamond-set watches, are they all rather significant in size. Setting the diamonds alone takes 130 hours of work. This is also partially because Jaeger-Lecoultre places the diamonds in a delicate frame of gold, making the watch also very appealing to look at from the side.
The Bangle watch takes a different approach, as here it is not symmetry that delights, but rather the opposite. Brilliant cut diamonds are the main star in this watch, as rows of them in different sizes grace the gold frame of this creation. It gives the watch a particular dynamic and elegance, which is amplified by the fact that the world’s smallest mechanical movement is diligently keeping time inside it.
