Always in search of the essential, Piaget’s Altiplano collection developed by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie is the formal expression of purity. Today, this reality enters a new dimension with the Piaget Altiplano Squelette Extra-plate model, which boasts a double world record: the world’s thinnest automatic skeleton watch (5.34 mm) houses the world’s thinnest automatic skeleton movement (2.40 mm). It took no less than half a century of expertise in extra-thin mechanical movements to reach these heights…
What if all that remained was the artist’s hand and the watchmaker’s absolute? In this quest for the essential, symbolized by the Altiplano collection, the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget takes a new leap forward with the presentation of the Piaget Altiplano Squelette Extra-plate model. Resolutely modern, this exceptional watch not only reveals Piaget’s unique expertise in the field of extra-flat mechanical movements, but also highlights the skills of the engraving craftsmen who have constantly pushed back the limits of this extreme art, making Piaget the specialist in skeletonized movements in Haute Horlogerie.
Immediately revealing its technical character and contemporary skeletonized movement, Piaget’s new Altiplano is a concentrate of know-how acquired since 1874 by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget.
The Piaget 1200S extra-thin skeleton caliber is designed, developed and produced by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget. The company offers 18 extra-flat movements and 5 skeletonized movements. At Piaget, legitimacy has always been built on tangible reality. This is why the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget has never ceased to renew itself in the highly technical segment of extra-flat movements. From this long and prestigious lineage, the most recent movements include the 430P (2.1 mm thick) created in 1998 and the 830P (2.5 mm) created in 2007. This expertise in extra-thin movements has also given rise to complicated calibers (600P tourbillon de forme, 880P chronograph, 855P perpetual calendar, 1270P automatic tourbillon). In 2010, Piaget celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its legendary 12P caliber in the best possible way by presenting the 1200P (hours and minutes) and 1208P (hours, minutes and small seconds) calibers, the world’s flattest self-winding mechanical movements. At the same time, Piaget has broken new ground in skeletonization.
Squeezing the world’s flattest automatic movement is naturally an exercise in mastery. Engraving and hollowing out this masterpiece without affecting its rigidity – and therefore its smooth running – is reserved for the world’s finest craftsmen. The skeleton of the world’s flattest automatic movement requires patient design and calculation work to ensure that its resistance and reliability are not compromised. To give this Piaget 1200S caliber the best possible rigidity, the design was put to contribution: long curves running through the plate and bridges harmoniously provide the necessary rigidity to the whole.
It took almost three years of study and research to develop the Piaget 1200S caliber. Compared with the Piaget 1200P caliber, of which it is an offshoot, the new 1200S features a number of innovations. In addition to the 950 platinum micro-rotor – which contributes to the exclusive character of this exceptional movement – the balance bridge reveals a new harmonious and symmetrical aesthetic. As for the hour-wheel bridge, it has been further refined (minimum wall of 0.11 mm) to achieve the extreme finesse of this movement, which reveals dimensions never before explored. Remarkably, this quest for the infinitely small is matched by outstanding decoration. Stylistic research focused on alternating matt surfaces – sun-kissed or sand-blasted – contrasting with the brilliance of the angles, as well as variations in rhodium-plated or black colors. Contemporary and architectural, the Piaget 1200S caliber takes the art of the skeleton watch into a new dimension: resolutely modern lines while respecting the traditional gesture.
The new Piaget 1200S caliber is housed in a 38 mm-diameter white gold case designed and developed expressly to accommodate it. A perfect interplay between mechanics and casing that the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget has mastered to perfection. Only this dual in-house expertise enables us to work on both movement and case design to create the world’s flattest automatic skeleton watch. Without mastering all these skills in-house, this world first would never have been possible.
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
