Piaget Celebrates The Altiplano 60th Anniversary
Piaget knows all about ultra-thin watches and movements. The haute brand from La-Côte-aux-Fées and Geneva has been making them since 1957, when it launched the first ultra-thin watch with the 9P manual-winding movement just 2 mm thick, followed in 1960 with Calibre 12P, the first automatic movement just 2.3 mm thick. Long-since developed into the “Altiplano” collection, Piaget celebrates the 60th anniversary of its first ultra-thin watch with a masterful display of of colours, sizes, artistic crafts and even a new tourbillon movement – the 670P ultra-thin mechanical winding tourbillon movement just 4.6 mm thick.
Colours first, with The Art of Colour. This trio of Altiplano 40 mm models is as much a treat for your eyes as your wrist with daring colours on the dials to brighten every minute of your day. Equipped with the new self-winding Manufacture movement — Calibre 1203P — for the reading of hours, minutes and the date at 3 o’clock, cases of 18K white gold, 18K pink gold or 18K yellow gold enhance respectively gorgeous dials in nuances of slate grey, midnight-to-electric blue, or pine-to-emerald green. On the dial, we read “Piaget Automatique” which appeared on the brand’s very first ultra-thin timepieces.
Appliques on the dial, oscillating masses and pin buckles on the alligator straps are in 18K gold. The impeccable finishing on the movement that measures just 2.35 mm thick includes circular Côtes de Genève.
These timepieces will be in stores as of July 2017, priced at EUR26,800 for the white gold / grey dial, and EUR25,700 for the pink gold / blue dial or yellow gold / green dial models, in limited editions of 260 pieces each.
The New Classics. Classic perhaps, but new, and you can be sure these two new models in 18K white gold will look just as great with your week-end casual wear as with your more polished attire.
In two sizes:
-the Altiplano Manual-Winding 38 mm is equipped with Calibre 430P (2.1 mm thick), developed, produced and decorated by the Piaget Manufacture, while
-the Altiplano Self-Winding 43 mm beats with Calibre 1200P, just 2.35 mm thick, and boasting bevelled bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève, circular-grained mainplate, satin-brushed steel parts and blued screws, and a gold oscillating weight engraved with the Piaget coat-of-arms.
This timepiece: the Piaget Altiplano 43 mm from the 60th Anniversary Collection, Ref: G0A42105 is the slimmest automatic watch in the world.
Inspired by the aesthetic characteristics of the first ultra-thin Piaget watches, both models feature a sunburst dial in Piaget blue with historical logo, applied white gold hour-markers and a central cross, with slim baton-type hands.
Available from July 2017, in limited editions of 460 pieces for the 38 mm model priced at EUR18,400, and 360 pieces for the 43 mm model priced at EUR24,600.
As part of the celebration, Piaget introduces the Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery, the first tourbillon in the Altiplano collection. Fitted with the 670P ultra-thin mechanical manual-winding tourbillon movement measuring just 4.6 mm thick, the timepiece combines Fine Watchmaking with Artistic Crafts, demonstrated by the hypnotizing flying tourbillon surrounded by a beautiful flinqué enamel dial, master-crafted with a guilloché pattern on gold before being coated with layers of transparent enamel glazed with three firing phases. The sunburst guilloché motif on the deep grey-blue shade of the dial is made even more stunning with baguette and brilliant-cut diamonds set on the dial, case and buckle. Also on the dial, the Piaget logo appears in the hours counter, while on the case-back, we see the 60th Anniversary inscription.
Finishing on the movement is as always second to none; a patented stem-winding system with an intermediate wheel and a new barrel provide a power reserve of 48 hours.
You’ll have to wait a bit longer for this timepiece, available from September 2017 in a limited edition of 38 pieces, priced at EUR210,000.
