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PIAGET Altiplano Saga: Part 4 – From La Côte-aux-Fées, With Love – Diamonds Are Forever
Piaget's excellence in the disciplines of haute joaillerie and haute horlogerie, finds ultimate expression in their jeweled timepieces.
Ref. GOA31105 and GOA31107.
The fusion of Piaget's twin passions gives birth to watches that are horologically and aesthetically exceptional. Many of these pieces are designated for women, and carry a gentler, more whimsical sensibility, but others like the Altiplano Pocket Watch and Altiplano with flinqué dial (Piaget offers both gem-set and non-jeweled variants) are perfect sartorial accompaniments for any gentleman.
Ref. G0A32082. 38 mm case in 18 carat white gold housing caliber 430P with a beautiful flinqué dial. This Altiplano model features exquisite guilloché work beneath a shimmering veil of translucent gray-green enamel.
Ref. G0A32083. 34 mm 18 carat white gold case set with 72 brilliant-cut diamonds, guilloché purple transparent enamel coated dial, and silvered baton hands.
(Learn more about champlevé flinqué enameling by clicking here .)
As we have learned from previous PuristSPro articles on the history of Piaget, the manufacture has been designing and producing movements (originally sold to other prestigious brands like Audemars Piguet, Cartier, and Rolex amongst others) since the late 1800s. It was not until the early 1900s that Piaget decided to release watches under its own company name. Today, Piaget is rightfully famous for their aesthetically pleasing, thin, and beautifully constructed movements -- conceived, developed, and built in-house.
In 2006, Piaget released a new ultra-thin movement (at 2.1 mm thick), the Manufacture Piaget caliber 450P, a hand-wound mechanical movement displaying the hours, minutes, and eccentric small seconds at 10 o'clock.
This mechanical movement is a direct descendant of earlier celebrated Piaget movements such as the 9P, 12P, and 430P.
Fulfillment of Piaget's creed, “Faire toujours mieux que nécessaire” ("Always do better than necessary") is achieved through a strategy that combines adherence to traditional aspects of watchmaking, with research into new techniques to develop the next generation of ultra-thin movements. Both the 430P and 450P are concrete examples of this process in action. The lovely timepieces pictured in this article are proof that Piaget continues to honor its long legacy of creating mechanically significant and authentically creative watches.
Ref. G0A30021. 38mm white gold case with diamond-set stylized Arabic numeral appliques, housing caliber 430P. The bezel is set with 78 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.7 ct) and the dial with 120 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.3 ct).
Ref. G0A31140. White gold case housing caliber 430P with yellow mother-of-pearl dial, diamond-set "champagne bubbles" motif, diamond-set bezel (78 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling approx. 0.7 ct) and diamond-set dial (46 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling approx. 0.2 ct).
Ref. G0A32170. White gold case housing caliber 430P, blue dial with superluminova glitter, diamond-set bezel (78 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling approx. 0.7 ct).
Ref. GOA31105. 18 carat white gold case set with 72 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.5 ct) with a white mother-of-pearl dial, stylized silvered Arabic numerals, and small seconds sub-dial at 10 o'clock set with 28 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.1 ct) driven by mechanical ultra-thin Manufacture Piaget 450P movement. This model is also available in 18 carat rose gold (below).
Ref. GOA31107.
Ref. G0A30022. Piaget boutique exclusive "fingerprint motif" Altiplano in diamond-set white gold. Each piece is unique and reproduces its owner’s fingerprint on the dial. Inside beats the caliber 430P.
Ref. GOA33175. 18 carat white gold gem-set ribbon motif on the dial. Here's a nice capture from our Piaget forum moderator, MTF, of an unusual piece "out in the wild" as opposed to a press photo. Very nice!
Ref. G0A34078. 18 carat pink gold case set with diamonds housing the Manufacture Piaget 450P ultra-thin mechanical hand-wound movement, with a small-seconds sub-dial following the curves of the Piaget “Funny Heart,” with gem-set outlines lit up by superluminova. This watch is also available in white gold; both models are Piaget boutique exclusives.
Piaget successfully showcases a diversity of creative themes with its jeweled Altiplano watches. There is something for all, whether you prefer a more whimsical design, elegant flinqué enamel, or a truly eye-popping example of gem-setting (and personalization) in the "fingerprint motif" Altiplano. I am also pleased to see that Piaget thinks well enough of its female clientele to provide them with watches that are feminine yet mechanically outstanding. The fact that every piece showcased here (other than the tourbillon and Double Jeu) houses either the caliber 430P or caliber 450P, both ultra-thin, in-house movements, decorated with circular-grained plate, beveled bridges, blued screws and circular Côtes de Genève, indicates that the manufacture does not view ladies watches as mere afterthoughts.
What's my favorite gem-set Piaget from the Altiplano collection, you ask? That's easy! It's this beauty:
To read my previously published on-the-wrist review of the Piaget Altiplano Double Jeu please click here .
Thanks for reading!
Daos
PIAGET Altiplano Saga series:
Part 1 - The World is Not Thin Enough – Manual 9P movement:
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 2 – GoldenEye – Automatic 12P movement:
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 3 – For Your Eyes Only – Enamel Altiplanos:
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 4 – From La Côte-aux-Fées, With Love – Diamonds Are Forever (Exceptional Altiplanos):
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 5 – The Living Daylights – Skeleton Altiplanos:
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 6 – Never Say Never Thin Again – Automatic 1200P/1208P movements
piaget.watchprosite.com
Part 7 – Quantum of Solace – Special Altiplanos and Updates
piaget.watchprosite.com
This message has been edited by MTF on 2013-09-16 05:36:35
PIAGET Altiplano Saga: Part 4 – From La Côte-aux-Fées, With Love – Diamonds Are Forever
I like those Guilloche!
The flinqué dials are way cool!
Gents watch but also Unisex
Dial
A-so...
I will be sure to keep it between us!
It is 'Gents' size......
I am old...like Father William
It would. :-)
That last watch...
