Brilliantly thin
Haute horlogerie brand sets new records, while maintaining acontemporary, creative and classical base, writes Winnie Chung

Last year, the manufacture broke through barriers of thinness to produce the Altiplano Skeleton, powered by the 1200S, the thinnest skeleton movement. This year, it has gone one better with the Calibre 1200D, the first fully gem-set skeleton movement. The 3mm movement is set with 259 brilliant-cut diamonds and 11 sapphire cabochons within a diameter of 31.9mm, and housed in a 6.10mm case with 40 baguette-cut diamonds on the bezel.
"It's a very interesting year for us because we are going to put two messages forward," says Piaget CEO Philippe Leopold-Metzger. "One is that Piaget is the master of ultra-thin [watches], which obviously remains one of the big directions for the brand, resetting Piaget as a great watchmaker. In the other area, which is very important, [we wish] to reiterate that Piaget is a jeweller. When you talk a lot about movement, you run the risk of people forgetting that you are a jeweller. If you only talk about jewellery watches, you have no chance that people will remember you as a watchmaker."
The Altiplano Automatic gem-set skeleton isn't the only record-breaker that Piaget is boasting of this year, with another addition to the superthin Altiplano family - the Altiplano Date - setting two new records in their respective categories for its 3mm thick movement and 6.36mm case.
Featuring a three-level dial with the date at 9 o'clock and small seconds subdial at 5 o'clock, the minimalistic novelty piece comes in white gold, rose gold or rose gold set with 72 diamonds.
