Number One of Five

At a gathering of collectors, my friend Mark mentioned a Reverso I had never considered before: the Reverso 101. He knew my interest in Jaeger-LeCoultre and thought it might intrigue me. It did.

While the conversation moved on, I quietly reached for my phone and started searching. I still haven’t decided whether a smartphone is a wonderful thing for a watch collector or a very dangerous one. Within minutes, I had discovered something extraordinary. Inside the Reverso 101 was Jaeger-LeCoultre’s legendary Calibre 101, created in 1929 and famous for being the smallest mechanical movement in the world. But here, instead of being hidden inside a jeweled bracelet, the tiny movement was suspended within a transparent sapphire case, visible from both sides and decorated by hand. Only five had been made.

Before lunch was even over, I sent a photograph to my contact at the Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique. The watch had been released years earlier, so neither of us had much hope. She said she would see what she could find. Two weeks later, they had found one, and not just any one, they had found number one.

Collectors can become strangely attached to numbers. The first piece in a tiny series carries a particular magic, and being offered number one of five felt almost impossible. The watch was quickly sent from Switzerland to the boutique in LA. It had originally been conceived as a woman’s watch, but that didn’t matter much to me. I loved the art deco design, the extraordinary little movement floating inside the sapphire case, the mother-of-pearl, and the sheer oddness of the whole thing. Years later, I still wear it happily. And despite its original designation, nobody has ever told me that I am wearing a woman’s watch. At least, not out loud.