THE EPITOME OF FINESSE
The battle for finesse has been hard fought over the past few years. And to date, the winner is none other than Piaget, with its ultra-thin timepiece from the Emperador collection.
Along with the aesthetic beauty on display in the Piaget Cushion Minute-Repeater Ultra-Thin Emperador, what makes this a particularly interesting watch is the technical complexity involved in making it. The timepiece has set a double record in its category, not only with a calibre that is just 4.8 mm thick, but also because of the watch case – a mere 9.4 mm thick.
The watch’s movement, the calibre 1290P, is currently the slimmest in the world, and provides the timepiece with hour, minute and minute-repeater functions, as well as a power reserve of 40 hours. Piaget’s quest for slimness is such that some of the watch’s elements are just 0.12mm thick, and others only 0.07mm – the thickness of a hair! Developing the self-winding minute-repeater movement and steel gongs took no less than three years of intensive work before achieving the exceptionally clear and warm chimes. The 48mm pink-gold case plays a vital role in transmitting the sound, since it is open-worked, providing the best possible transmission of the gong vibration. The dial, fitted with sapphire glass, reveals the dance of the elements in the Cushion Minute-Repeater Ultra-Thin Emperador movement – 407 of them in all!
Price: CHF284,000 piaget.com
By Isabelle Guignet