JAEGER-LECOULTRE

Smaller than a pencil point and weighing less than a gram, Jaegerlecoultre’s Calibre 101 is not only the tiniest mechanical movement in the world but has been made since 1929, making it one of the oldest still in production. Conceived for jewellery watches, instead of having components set on a single plate it adopted the “stacked” dual-level architecture first developed for the Duoplan movement in 1925. It revolutionised feminine watchmaking, as its miniscule size and baguette shape opened a new realm of aesthetic freedom to designers. For the latest pair of Calibre 101 jewellery timepieces, which house the fourth-generation movement Calibre 101/4, the maison’s artistic team took a jewellery-led approach by designing the bracelet forms and gem-setting style first before integrating the cases and movements. The first is the manchette-style Snowdrop, which is inspired by the white bell-shaped winter flowers in the Vallée de Joux. A circle of pear-shaped diamonds surrounds the dial to form a corolla, as waves of diamonds repeat the petal motif in perfect symmetry over the entire bracelet. A griffe setting was used for the diamonds to minimise the visibility of the pink gold and create the illusion of diamonds floating on the bracelet. Artisans spent 130 hours on the gem-setting work alone, encrusting it with 904 pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 20.9 carats,. Inspired by Art Deco geometry and the strong forms of 20thcentury Modernism, the Bangle timepiece is a bolder expression of femininity. Embellished with 19.7 carats of 996 brilliant-cut diamonds graduated in size to emphasise the design’s sweeping curves, the griffe and grain setting techniques were combined to heighten the diamonds’ three-dimensional effect and brilliance.