From 1874, Piaget has mastered mechanical movements at its historic home in La Côte-aux-Fées in the canton of Neuchâtel.
Its flair for flattening calibres has resulted in another record-breaking model -- the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon -- which marks 150 years of the Swiss brand.
The world's thinnest tourbillon timepiece boasts the same 2mm thickness as the Altiplano Ultimate Concept.
Six years of work on the predecessor and numerous innovations earned Piaget the prestigious Aiguille d'Or at the 2020 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. It took another three years to develop the new Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon with a slightly larger diameter of 41.5mm.
The goal was to insert the spinning complication inside an already-full space. The technical feat involved redesigning 90% of the components and devising new machinery.
Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, the world’s thinnest tourbillon timepiece.
The challenges aligned with the motto "do what has never been done before", coined by Valentin Piaget.
The maxim levels up on "always do better than necessary", instilled by his grandfather Georges-Édouard Piaget, who was only 19 when he established a workshop at the family farm in the small village of La Côte-aux-Fées.
The third-generation Valentin spurred the maison's ultra-thin horology. His vision first materialised as the mechanical hand-wound 9P with a thickness of 2mm in 1957, then the slightly-thicker automatic 12P in 1960.
Building on the DNA, the 900P is engineered with a mainplate that also functions as a caseback to gain more space and achieve ultra-thinness. Variations include the 900P-UC movement, which drives the award-winning Altiplano Ultimate Concept.
Piaget's expertise in tourbillon calibres include fitting the 670P inside a case 7.35mm thick. For the new, flat-as-a-coin timepiece, its engineers had to reimagine the flying tourbillon, which counteracts the effect of gravity.
The final structure of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon was acquired after experimenting with more than 70 versions of the cage, 15 versions of the anchor and 30 versions of the case frame.
All parts have to fit within a thickness of 2mm.
Spinning at 10 o'clock, the tourbillon is ingeniously held in place by its perimeter and its outer edge braced by a ceramic ball bearing, which drives its one-minute rotation. The carriage is set in a circular motion by the encircling bridge.
The mechanical masterpiece is equipped with the hand-wound 970P-UC, which delivers a power reserve of 40 hours while coping with the 25% additional energy consumption required by the tourbillon.
The first technical solution was to use a made-to-measure mainspring and slightly increase the blade's thickness. Secondly, an almost systemic use of ball bearings replaced pivots. By making it easier for the mobile elements to rotate, Piaget decreased friction, which contributed to an even thinner result.
Moreover, the thickness of the sapphire crystal has been reduced to 0.20mm and 0.16mm on the dial and back side.
An off-centre dial displays the hours and minutes while a seconds indicator is engraved on the ring of the neighbouring tourbillon.
The crown, integrated into the case band, is operated via a stylus containing a gear reduction and torque control system that breathes life into the barrel.
The case of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon is in blue PVD-treated cobalt alloy, which offers the best thinness to hardness ratio. Seen from the side, the slim timepiece sits comfortably on the wrist almost like second skin.
On the caseback, an opening displaying the tourbillon is surrounded by an engraving of "Côte-aux-Fées" and the founder's credo in French to celebrate the 150th anniversary.
