A method for forming a sheathed wire includes the steps of: axially advancing a core through a sheathing zone; wrapping a sheathing fiber around the core in the sheathing zone; and providing, in the sheathing zone, a series of microelectronic chip elements each provided with a wire section, in such a way that the sheathing fiber that wraps around the core also wraps around a chip element and the wire section thereof to form a sheathed wire incorporating spaced-apart chip elements.