MTF
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SIHH 2014: Simple Watch Innovation of the Year - Piaget 900P

SIHH 2014: Simple Watch Innovation of the Year

Piaget Altiplano 38mm 900P

At SIHH 2014, only a handful of brands innovated with timepieces that brought justice to the descriptor - "novelty". An even smaller number of brands introduced novelties that embodied their core values.

Without any doubt in my mind nor fear of prejudice, I think that one of them was Piaget, while celebrating their 140th anniversary.

The Piaget Altiplano 38mm 900P is the next generation of ultra-thin watches that Piaget has been pioneering for 6 decades.

At 3.65mm flat, the world's thinnest complete mechanical watch is a fusion of watch movement with the watch case. There is no separate specification for the thickness of movement nor of watch case alone. More about that innovative fusion later.

Master of Ultra-thin

What is the heritage and patrimony at Piaget that is embodied in the new 900P?  We need to look back to their history as suppliers to the rest of the Swiss industry since 1874. Renowned for fine movements made for most of the famous brands, Piaget started putting their own name on watches in 1942 and specialised in thin watches.

The result has been 23 ultra-thin calibres out of the 35 movements developed and produced in-house, of which, 12 have set new records for thinness. The 900P joins this illustrious list.

The 900P is a direct descendent of the iconic Piaget 9P calibre introduced in 1957 as one of the world's thinnest manual wind movements at only 2.0mm; its 89 components ran at 19,800 A/h frequency. Piaget watches with the 9P family movements were still being produced 50 years later in limited editions.

The 12P calibre set the world record for thinnest automatic movement in 1960 at 2.3mm and the ultra-thin saga continues with new slimness records for hand-wound and automatic classes, with or without horological complications. Some examples are calibre 600P, the world’s thinnest hand-wound shaped tourbillon movement and 1208P, the current thinnest automatic movement.

Fusion Techniques from Two Integrated Manufactures

A contributory factor to Piaget's current success is the complementary skillsets it leverages from its two integrated Manufactures. The quest for thinnest complete watch requires miniaturisation of both the movement and case components. Designers, engineers, case constructors and watchmakers have to work together to reduce dimensions whilst maintaining precision function and reliability. Not many brands have the facilities to take this holistic approach.

The two Manufactures Piaget shared the work at La Côte aux Fées, where the movements are traditionally made; and at Plan-les-Ouates (Geneva) where the case constructors work.

Project 900P R&D took 3 years from concept to design through prototyping and to finishing as repeated iterations progressed the trimming of the 145 components in the movement. Some  parts are less than a hair's breadth e.g. wheels that are a mere 0.12 mm thin (compared with 0.20 mm on a classic Altiplano movement) with special attention to clearances and tolerances. The parts have to be smaller and closer together but with optimal play for smooth running.

Innovation 1: Thinking outside the box (case)

A) The 'Next Small Thing' at Piaget was merging the movement with the case with the caseback serving as the mainplate for the movement.

The micro-engineering marvel was to machine the caseback to accept moving parts. This idea has allowed Piaget to make the Great Leap into the NextGen ultra-thin watches. 

Note: The caseback displayed above is a demonstrator and has unusual signs of wear not found on production parts.

B) A bonus benefit was the need to reverse the movement orientation with bridges on the dial side. This whittled down height and allowed the movement to be an aesthetic feature.

C) The mechanicals and hand-fitting system are confined within the thickness of the balance-wheel to shave precious millimeters off. The resultant off-centre display of hours and minutes are in keeping with the Altiplano design codes.

D) The mainspring barrel is suspended from only the dial-side bridge instead of both mainplates for conventional barrels. There is no effect on the performance with a power reserve of 48 hours.

Innovation 2: Patent pending advancement for watch reliability

All watches deform under high forces such as direct pressure or when submerged under water. These forces deform the watch glass. For ultra-thin watches, this slight deformation may cause the glass to impinge upon the hands and hinder movement.

Piaget's solution is to place the hands below the movement bridges so they are protected by the wheel-train bridge from the encroaching watch glass. This also has the added benefit of freeing up the space between the traditional cannon-pinion and crystal, making the watch thinner.

"Always do more than necessary"

Piaget keeps the Founder's motto in mind with uncompromising finishing.  Even the unexposed components are finished meticulously with hours of patient work because the fiddly little components are much thinner than usual.

The case-back milled 'mainplate' is satin-brushed and sandblasted. The wheels are alternately sunburst or circular satin-brushed. Hollowed so as to reveal the mechanical wizardry, bevelled and satin-brushed sunburst bridges are black-coated to create elegant contrasts with the white gold case. The index-assembly bearing the Piaget “P” is a sign that Piaget is really proud of this little beauty. It is usually reserved for their best pieces.

The high plain in the Andes mountain range or 'Altiplano' in Spanish averages 3,650 m high.  I find it hard to believe that the designers and watchmakers finished this ultra-flat watch with a world record 3.65mm thin. It's a beautiful coincidence but surely not a technical goal......or was it? 

Pros:

• World's thinnest complete mechanical watch
• Effortless elegance
• NextGen aesthetics

Cons:

• Made my current Altiplano obsolete

Bright Star Viewed from a High Plain

Marrying Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie, the new Piaget Altiplano 38mm dazzles with an elegant gem-set dial. The distinctive circle of baguette-cut diamonds is what sets this piece apart from the usual jewellery work of others.

This is not for everyone but for those with the panache and means to carry off this look, the Altiplano 38mm 900P Gem-Set is better than most and looks powerful on most wrists. I think it has to do with the baguette diamonds around the time dial and the audacity of the gem-set functional screw heads ! 

Pros:

• Exquisite gem-setting on an already world beater watch.

Cons:

• Cost
• Round diamonds on the lugs

Personal favourite

Although not yet released at the shops, I already know 4 people who have placed an order with their friendly neighbourhood purveyor of Piaget products. 

My favourite version is the white gold that looks effortlessly elegant and NextGen at the same time. The subtle changes from single to double indices around the dial and the sheer lightness of the piece on-the-wrist despite the use of gold, makes this the de rigeur dress watch for every gentleman.

A gentleman only needs 3 watches (Daily, Sporty and Dress) to maintain his status as a gentleman. That being the case (pun intended) the world's thinnest combined watch calibre and case must be MAN-datory.

Pros:

• Additional subtlety of monotone dial-case aesthetic compared with the variants above

Cons:

• Not yet in the shops as I wrote this !

Regards,
MTF

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