Jaeger-LeCoultre’s New Limited-Edition Watches Chime, Sparkle, and Chart the Heavens

Jaeger-LeCoultre is leaning into the prestigious side of its heritage with limited releases of three watches that represent signature, high-peak achievements for the brand. New interpretations of the Caliber 101 Secrets, the Master Hybris Artistica Caliber 945, and the Duometre Grande ComplicationComplicationAny function on a mechanical watch beyond telling the hours, minutes, and seconds, such as a calendar, chronograph, moon phase, or tourbillon. Complications demonstrate a watchmaker's technical skill, and moreGo to Complication Glossary A Grande Sonnerie are now up for grabs in a rare release of very limited editions. All prices are upon request.

The 101 Secrets is all about the provenanceProvenanceThe documented history of an object's ownership, origin, and authenticity, particularly important for classic cars, watches, art, and wine. Strong provenance can dramatically raise an item's value, and collectors andGo to Provenance Glossary of one of watchmaking’s most famous movements combined with the wonders of modern gemsetting. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s caliber 101 has reigned as the world’s smallest rectangular manual-wound movement since it was introduced nearly 100 years ago, in 1929. Its diminutive size (14 mm long, 4.8 mm wide, and 3.4 mm thick) was engineered especially for the cocktail watch, and stands as a testament to Jaeger’s genius for micro-engineering some 50 years before the advent of CNC machining and computer-aided design. The movement has been updated over the years, and it now has a 33-hour power reserve—pretty admirable for a tiny movement and mainspring.

Today, the 101 continues to serve the purpose for which it was originally intended: to drive teeny gem-set cocktail watches. This one embodies the traditional “secret” style, conceived to allow a woman to discreetly check the time in a previous era when doing so was considered a faux pas during social gatherings. Today, it’s an excuse to create a watch that cleverly masquerades as piece of jewelry—at least on the outside. The mechanism that opens the cover to reveal the dial is activated by a hidden button at 6 o’clock. When the button is held down, a section of the bracelet pops open to reveal the time. The double-row bracelet is set with 124 pink sapphires (approximately 16.39 carats) graduated in both size and color; and the timepiece is also set with 13.26 carats of diamonds. The gem-setting alone on this model, a limited editionLimited EditionA product produced in deliberately restricted numbers, often numbered, signed, and distinguished by special materials or design. Limited editions create scarcity, urgency, and desirability, and they are common across watches,Go to Limited Edition Glossary of three pieces, took 163 hours.

Jaeger-LeCoultre is also creating five new opportunities to own one of its most coveted high complications: the Master Hybris Artistica Caliber 945, now in white gold. The watch, first introduced in 2010, is a rarity that combines a complex cosmotourbillion with a minute repeater function and a star chart showing the constellations in the Northern Hemisphere moving in real time. The cosmotourbillon keeps sidereal time by making a complete, counter-clockwise circuit of the dial in one sidereal day. Sidereal time, also called celestial time, is slightly less than 24 hours (23 hours, 56 minutes, and four seconds). It measures Earth’s rotation in relation to fixed stars, as opposed to the 24-hour civil time, which measures Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The minute repeater function showcases Jaeger’s patented innovations for the function, including cathedral crystal gongs, trébuchet hammers and a silent governor.

The constellations on the star chart are crafted using the decorative enamel technique of grisaille, which combines a background of dark enamel painted over by hand with a white enamel known as Blanc de Limoges, creating subtle contrasts and the illusion of three-dimensional depth. This model is a limited edition of five pieces.

Very few pieces of the Duometre Grande ComplicationComplicationAny function on a mechanical watch beyond telling the hours, minutes, and seconds, such as a calendar, chronograph, moon phase, or tourbillon. Complications demonstrate a watchmaker's technical skill, and moreGo to Complication Glossary A Grande Sonnerie have ever been made due to the complexity of its movement, caliber 182, with 15 complications and eight patents. Jaeger says it takes a full year only to assemble and regulate the 1,300-component movement, and involves four phases with a total of 16,000 different operations: assembly; disassembly; corrections and cleaning; and final assembly.

The watch’s main draw is the chiming system. It is a grande and petite sonnerie with Westminster style chimes marking the quarters and hours with four gongs and four hammers chiming every quarter hour en passant (without the need for manual activation). What’s new are the titanium inner case and metallic glass gongs made to enhance acoustics; a security measure for the chiming mechanism that increases resilience; and a debut design for the open-worked dial that reveals more of the movement’s beauty.

Introduced in 2009 in the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie, caliber 182 was the first to combine a grande sonnerie with Westminster chimes, along with a retrograde perpetual calendar, flying tourbillon and two power reserve indicators—one for each of the main barrels. Each barrel ahs a separate and independent gear train, one providing energy to the gear train that powers the time and perpetual calendar indications (with a 48-hour power reserve), and the other to the gear train that drives the chiming functions. The latter provides enough power in grande sonnerie mode for a total of 616 notes (equivalent to seven hours and 30 minutes of continuous chiming) and in petite sonnerie mode for a maximum of 992 notes—equivalent to 32 hours of chiming. The 60-part, 45 mm case combines a titanium body with pink gold lugs, bezel and pushers. Only one piece will be made.

This article originally appeared in Robb Report US.