JLC Reverso Art Deco 101

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The JLC cal. 101 has been the smallest mechanical movement since its introduction in 1929.  Consisting of 98 parts (up from the original 88 due to added jewels and shock protection) it is 14mm x 4.8mm x 3.4mm thick and weighs, without crown, approx 1 gram.  It was created at a time when small and thin was all the rage in watches and JLC needed an edge in the ladies market.  The minimal dimensions required some unusual engineering, the escapement is on the far side of the balance from the mainspring and the crown is on the back to remove the need for a keyless works.  JLCcal101.jpg

Although popular in its day, Queen Elizabeth II was wearing her third on the day or her coronation, that diminutive design doesn't fit with the current trends towards massive and complex, even in ladies watches.  JLC, though, had the movement tooling in-house and as part of their leveraging of their heritage has started using it again.  There are a few bejeweled pieces that make use of the diminutive size, but the Reverso Art Deco 101, there is also a plain Reverso Art Deco, is far and away the most interesting current use.
  Available in both ladies and gents models, the 101 is mounted between 2 sapphire plates in the middle of the standard GT reverso case, with no obvious connection to any part of the case.  The inside back of the reverso carrier is decorated with vaguely Art Deco marquetry in mother-of-pearl and, sadly, the ladies piece is set with approx 5ct of diamonds.  As an interesting detail, there is a crown on the case, but it isn't connected to anything, since the 101 is wound from the back.  The crown is useful for popping the reversing carriage out to flip it over and can even be removed and used to give a better grip on the back-wind crown.

Grande_Reverso_101_art_Dco_F_-_FB.jpg

and a closeup of the dial of the ladies model (ref. 3003431), the distortion near the movement is from the curve of the sapphire to hold the movement in place.
Grande_Reverso_101_art_Dco_F-CUFB.jpg

The gents model is a bit more restrained, retaining the MOP internal bezel, but dropping the case diamonds
Grande_Reverso_101_art_Dco_H_-_FB.jpg

and again a dial closeup showing the slightly different pattern in the MOP
Grande_Reverso_101_art_Dco_H2FB.jpg

(all pictures from JLC via TimeZone)

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This page contains a single entry by Aaron Macks published on September 14, 2010 8:35 PM.

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