In recent years, the race to make the world’s thinnest mechanical watch has been dominated by a handful of players, few as prominent as Piaget. The Piaget Altiplano collection has been at the forefront of ultra-thin watch design for years, and by 2020, the brand has taken the next step by creating the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept – the world’s record thinnest mechanical watch with a hand-wound movement and a total depth of just 2mm. The model, which was first unveiled as a prototype in 2018, has returned as an official member of the Piaget family.
This, of course, is the key to the record thinning of the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept. The razor-thin 41mm case is made of an advanced cobalt metal alloy that offers a fully polished finish and PVD black. In order to preserve the exceptional thickness of 2mm, Piaget employed a number of unique tricks on the case of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept. First, the rectangular crown at 3 o’clock is completely recessed into the side of the case, flush and distinguishable only by a small seam line. The sapphire crystal, however, is only 0.2mm thick, and most impressive is the case architecture itself. In order to shave precious millimeters from the entire depth, the movement is actually integrated into the case, with the caseback acting as a back plate, so that the entire assembly sits even more flush than before.
Thanks to extreme engineering, the actual chronograph dial of the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept has been reduced to a subdial at 12 o’clock, while most of the visual space is taken up by the necessary components of that dial. Movement. The layout has a true mechanical aesthetic, particularly the wide barrel at 6 o’clock and the balance wheel at 9 o’clock. Piaget offers the Altiplano Ultimate Concept dial in three different colorways. The PVD black case version uses a black base, black movement bridges and black dial, with minimal silver-toned hands and indexes. For the polished metal version, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept can be ordered with a silver base and bridges with contrasting blue sunburst sub-dials, or with a black base, blue bridges and silver sunburst sub-dials.
Of course, one of the main components in making such a thin watch is the movement itself. The ultra-thin internal hand-wound 900P-UC movement is an impressive achievement in itself. In development for the past six years, this paper-thin powerhouse uses 13 jewels and features five patent-pending innovations that generate a 40-hour power reserve and 28,800 bph in a system less than 2mm thick.
Without a doubt, the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept is an impressive technical achievement, as it is a conventionally produced timepiece that can now be purchased from authorized dealers, thus impressing. Prices for the Altiplano Ultimate Concept are available upon request.