The smallest hand-wound movement in a bangle: Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils the 101 Chain

Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled the 101 Chain (reference Q2842270) in mid-October, a jewellery watch in the form of a bangle. At its heart is the Calibre 101, which the manufacture introduced in 1929 and describes as the world's smallest hand-wound mechanical movement: 14 millimetres long, 4.8 millimetres wide, 3.4 millimetres thick and weighing around one gram. Queen Elizabeth II also wore a Calibre 101 at her coronation in 1953.

The 18-carat pink gold bangle alternates bands of glossy black ceramic, which the brand calls HyCeram, with rows of brilliant-cut diamonds – 158 stones according to the specification sheet. Each piece gets its own casting mould, whose 36 cavities are filled by hand with liquid ceramic. The tiny dial is black lacquered, bears the JL monogram and is framed by diamonds. The shape draws on a model called the Chain from 1955, which was based on the Duoplan principle.

Because assembling a Calibre 101 takes around 40 hours of handwork, only a few dozen such watches are made each year, according to Luxe Digital. The manufacture has not published a price. Head of design Lionel Favre calls the movement, on the brand's website, "a mechanical gem that our designers love to reinvent". Earlier this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre had already shown the 101 Secrets with a hidden dial and two one-of-a-kind bangles using the calibre. A video on the manufacture's YouTube channel presents the 101 Chain.