Well known for its world records in extremely thin watches, Piaget has done it again with the Piaget Altiplano Skeleton Ultra-Thin. This new timepiece, debuting at SIHH, sets two world records: the world’s thinnest self-winding skeleton watch (5.34 mm) and the world’s thinnest self-winding skeleton movement (2.40 mm). The new Altiplano Skeleton Ultra-Thin isn’t just about being thin, it also highlights the skills of Piaget’s engraving artisans, specialists in skeleton or openworked movements.
The Piaget 1200S ultra-thin skeletonised movement is designed, developed and produced by the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget. Piaget currently offers a range of 18 ultra-thin movements and five skeleton movements. Openworking the world’s thinnest self-winding movement was a tremendous challenge, as engraving and hollowing the movement had to have no influence on its rigidity or its smooth operation. Piaget started at the conception stage, redesigning the world’s thinnest self-winding movement without affecting its resistance and its reliability. In order to ensure the optimum rigidity of this Piaget Calibre 1200S, the design itself comes into play, since the long curves extending across the mainplate and bridges ensure the necessary overall firmness and resistance.
It took more than three years of research and development to fine-tune the Piaget Calibre 1200S. Compared with the Piaget 1200P movement from which it is derived, the new Calibre 1200S comprises a number of innovations. In addition to the micro-rotor in 950 platinum, the balance-bridge also features a harmonious and symmetrical new aesthetic. The hour-wheel bridge has been slimmed down (to a minimum wall thickness of just 0.11 mm) in order to ensure the extreme thinness of this movement.
Source: Europa Star December - January 2012 Magazine Issue
