Jaeger-LeCoultre

jaeger92
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Happy Birthday Caliber 101 !!! 1929-2009 !!

80 years old and all his teeth, congrats !!!  Happy birthday 101!!

but who's this mysterious #101 ??? 

The 101 is the smallest mecanical caliber in the world, and it's been owning this title since 1929, date of its birth :  a master piece of JLC, a mecanical artwork and the cause of many eyes-problems into the watch industry

some historical points  :

JLC presented in 1929 his 101 caliber. The duoplan (1925) opened the way with a 2-levels movement to gain space and also to get a bigger balance and thus a bigger precision : the bigger is the balance, the more accurate is the watch : the graal for a manufacture: small parts but precision ... the pace was 21 600A/H, the 1st LC movement LC with a swing superior to the traditionnal 18000 A/H.

Duoplan's movement :

the crown is behind the watch, just like the future...Futurematic

crédit : https://www3.btwebworld.com/anthonygreen/detailofjaegerduo1656.htm

just for fun, JLC communicated on the very easy way for repairing such an elaborate movement :  after-sales operation was very easy for AD : they just put off the level that was not operating, a standard change with spare parts and the client can go with his watch without having to wait for his watch for a too long time and sending the complete watch to the manufacture or having too high-ranking watch-makers in workshops (and to avoid loosing time and improve productivity )

Moreover, JLC gave a 2-year warranty for his watches with lloyds against lost, broken or stolen watches.. JLC marketing was a step further than its competitors . just a paper to fill and you have a new watch !

to finish with the duoplan, it was the 1st watch created by JLC : up to 1925, LC produced movements for other brands such as Patek, Vacheron etc.. but didn't make final watches.  The 1st step of a bright future we are all pleased to see living nowadays ! the reputation of JLC as "form-movements" maker was also confirmed and proved again..

the 101 caliber evolved just a little bit but it kept all decades long its record of the smallest movement in the world .
98 parts in 2009 (74 in 1929), less than 1 gramm et so tiny dimensions : 14*4,8*3,4mm (resp L*l*H)
the most little part (called the "spin") is less than 0,17 milligrams !!! all JLC' DNA is in this caliber and we can find the superb story of Antoine LeCoultre who created the millionometer to measure the "micron" and touch perfection in producing parts.
always 21 600A/h and 33h of operation.
19 jewels !! can you imagine that ??? in fact, the superior number of parts between the 4 generations is linked to an increase in the number of jewels !

Bridges and platin are made of grey gold

so.. but it's very hard to imagine such a small movement.. just look at that for comparison !

credit : http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/fr/encyclopedie/histoire/20eme-siecle/1929-.html

or
credit : Jaeger92 and his own coins

and with an actual Reverso Grand sunmoon :

credit :Jaeger92

amazing, isn't it ??

101 is one of the rarest movement  in spite of his apparent simplicity.. Since 1929, only 2000 movements have been assembled.. 80 years old, so 25 movements per year.

and now, please be sure that your wife is not near the screen and reading this wonderful post, because I fear for your wallet

the most famous whristshot with a 101 : Queen Elisabeth for her crowning in 1953 (sorry, I forgot my camera this day and couldn't take a close picture of the royal whrist:

I hope that you enjoyed this story and that I didn't write too many silly things. Please do not hesitate to correct and complete my post !! .

again, happy birthday #101.. after such nice stories, how can I stop being a JLC fanatic ?? this Grande Maison is just amazing !

thank you for your patience and for having read my poor English

Jaeger92