Two new records in the ultra-thin quest

For Piaget, 2010 will represent a tribute to its rich watchmaking heritage as well as a quantum leap towards the future. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of its legendary Calibre 12P in 1960, the world’s thinnest mechanical self-winding movement at that time, the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget is presenting Calibre 1208P. Because it stems from the expertise in ultra-thin movements that has become a hallmark of the Piaget style, this mechanism once again sets new limits by becoming the thinnest self-winding movement currently on the market, at 2.35 mm. A first record.

For its debut on the watchmaking stage, Calibre 1208P will be equipping as of 2010 one of Piaget’s iconic models, the Altiplano watch. Featuring a new case size (43 mm in diameter), the latest Altiplano model is just 5.25 mm thick, making it the thinnest watch in its category. A second record. This exceptional piece is modest about its achievements, since amid the current frantic race toward ever more complicated models, it displays only essentials: hours, minutes and small seconds on a subdial.

For over half a century, the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget has written some of the finest pages in the history of ultra-thin movements and has played a pioneering role in doing so. In 1957, Piaget caused a sensation by developing Calibre 9P, the world’s thinnest mechanical hand-wound movement (at 2 mm thick). Two years later, Valentin Piaget filed a patent for Calibre 12P (2.3 mm only), which was marketed in 1960 and set a new record in the category of self-winding watches.

Building on this historical legitimacy, the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget has constantly cultivated and enriched its know-how in the highly technical segment of ultra-thin movements, of which the most recent are the 430P (2.1 mm thick) created in 1998 and the 830P (2.5 mm) launched in 2007. This expertise in the area of ultra-thin movements has also given rise to complicated calibres such as the 600P, the world’s thinnest shaped tourbillon movement at 3.5 mm; the 880P, equipped with a flyback chronograph and a dual time-zone function and measuring a mere 5.65 mm thick; and finally, the 855P that manages to accommodate within just 5.6 mm a perpetual calendar, retrograde displays and a dual time-zone indication.

50 years after Calibre 12P was first commercialised, the 1208P self-winding movement not only earns the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget a new record in the quest for the thinnest self-winding movement, but also enriches an incredibly rich portfolio of movements stemming from decades of creativity, inventions, as well as technical and human investments. This watchmaking heritage alone is sufficient to assert the brand’s stature as one of the handful of truly great Manufactures in the noblest sense of the term. 

This timepiece represents the result of a wish to celebrate a landmark anniversary by setting a new record for slimness and combining it with exceptional reliability. With this in mind, the expertise acquired by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget in developing ultra-thin movements has enabled it to implement technical solutions consistently pushing micromechanical limits. By way of example, whereas the gear trains of a classic movement usually measure around 0.2 mm, those of the 1208P are just 0.12 mm thick, which is scarcely more than a hair’s breadth. Generally speaking, the thickness of the various movement parts has been reduced to bare essentials. Among them, the self-winding mechanism represented one of the trickiest problems to overcome. This set of parts calls for a certain volume and tends to make a movement significantly thicker. Like the 12P, the solution for the 1208P consisted in using the principle of an off-centred oscillating weight, also known as a micro-rotor. The 22-carat gold of this oscillating weight engraved with the Piaget coat-of-arms gives it a weight and inertia guaranteeing excellent winding force. The result is a movement that is not only the thinnest in its category currently on the market (2.35 mm), but also has a balance with low inertia (2.90 mg.cm2), a frequency of 21,600 vph and an approximately 40-hour power reserve. Loyal to its tradition of fine craftsmanship, the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget has made a point of honour of treating its new ultra-thin calibre to exceptional finishing: in addition to the bevelled bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève and blued screws, the 1208P also features circular satin-brushed wheels as well as a dedicated index-assembly bearing the P for Piaget like a secret signature.

This large movement – measuring 13 ¼ lignes, meaning 29.9 mm in diameter – driving hour, minute and small seconds functions, was of course intended to equip a large-size ultra-thin watch. Altiplano, an iconic model among ultra-thin watches in general and particularly within the range produced by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget, was thus a natural choice. The case was designed well upstream in the development process – a rare phenomenon in the watch industry – so as to provide the perfect receptacle for the movement, since they were specifically made for each other. The result is an extremely refined watch creation with tapering lugs and a layered dial beautifully highlighted by an extremely slender bezel. The small seconds at 4 o’clock, the various dial levels – a clever means of further reducing the thickness of the watch while limiting hand-setting heights – and the alternation of simple and double hour-markers, along with the word “automatic” reminiscent of Piaget’s historical pieces: all these refined elements contribute to the pure style and perfect balance of this outstanding model. Despite its extreme slenderness, the case in 18-carat pink or white gold is equipped with a sapphire case-back enabling one to admire the movement and the crown bearing the P for Piaget.

With the Piaget Altiplano 43 mm watch equipped with Calibre 1208P, the Manufacture Piaget sets a new record: that of the thinnest mechanical self-winding watch, at just 5.25 mm. A far cry from vintage or retro styled models, it is instead a great modern-day classic expressing a powerful new statement of Piaget’s supreme mastery in the realm of ultra-thin expertise.