With a new interpretation of the High Jewellery 101 Secrets watch in Platinum 950, Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to enrich the Calibre 101 collection. First presented in 2023 in diamond-set 18K pink gold, the 101 Secrets timepiece required hundreds of hours of research to create an entirely new design.
With technique at the service of design, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s in-house designers, watchmakers, engineers and craftsmen work together, continually developing the technical and aesthetic values of the Maison, with precision as the guiding force: precision in the design and production of the components of a timepiece, but also in the art of timekeeping itself.
The ultimate objective of watchmaking —precision— is of fundamental importance to Jaeger-LeCoultre, which makes it a focal theme in 2024. With this focus, La Grande Maison continues in the footsteps of founder Antoine LeCoultre who, from his first workshop in 1833 in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, built his own tools to develop the smallest components in order to produce the most precise and accurate calibres. Nearly 100 years later, this quest for miniaturization was taken to the extreme when Calibre 101 was developed in 1929.
The smallest manually-wound mechanical watch movement in the world, Calibre 101 has sparked the imaginations of many designers since 1929. Both decorative and useful, this object of beauty has been developed over the decades into countless creations crafted from noble metals, often decorated with precious gems and accompanied by a fascinating array of straps and bracelets.
With 101 Secrets, Jaeger-LeCoultre takes a step further, with not one, but two secrets hidden within the watch —the first is the dial itself, which must be revealed to see the time, and the second is the mechanism that activates the dial cover.
The development of the 101 Secrets watch required hundreds of hours of research and 15 different areas of expertise, combining traditional techniques and new technologies, to perfect the design of the case, the opening and closing mechanisms, the precisely articulated bracelet and the positioning of the gemstones. Designing the secret elements of the watch added to the challenge. The secret mechanism that reveals the dial had to be so tiny that it could be completely hidden within the rows of diamonds —its position known only to the wearer and activated by a diamond ‘button’.
The manually-wound movement, Calibre 101, is also a remarkable feat of miniaturization and precision. With 98 components, the entire movement measures just 14 mm x 4.8 mm with a thickness of 3.4 mm and weighs just one gram. Despite its minuscule size, it provides a power reserve of 33 hours. It requires 40 hours to hand-assemble the miniature movement, a specialised skill that very few watchmakers have mastered.
Platinum is twice as hard as gold, and consequently much harder to craft into the desired case and bracelet shapes —and much more difficult to set with gemstones. However, the whiteness of platinum lights up the diamonds more than ever, creating a scintillating show as the light catches the watch from every angle. Defined by four rows of diamonds, 101 Secrets forms an unbroken river of light and sparkle that flows around the wrist, giving no hint of the timepiece concealed within it.
The bracelet is set with 1,028 diamonds —26.21 Carats—, each stone precisely positioned using two different setting techniques: a double row of grain-set diamonds edged with two outer rows of griffe-set diamonds. With 182 hours required for gem-setting, this timepiece is a true testament to the savoir-faire housed in the Métiers Rares atelier of La Grande Maison.
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