2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the Piaget Altiplano – a timepiece that is famed for its slim profile and elegant good looks.
Back in 1957, Piaget made a significant impact in the category of dress watches with its ultra-thin movements. The watch, which features the legendary 9P movement, is simply phenomenal. The manual-winding movement is a mere 2mm thick – a feat that is remarkable even by today’s standard.
Several movements came along after that, such as the self-winding 12P (with a thickness of 2.3mm). More recently, Piaget produced the 900P. This one is rather unique, as it literally merges both the case and the movement together.
This year, for the 60th anniversary of the Altiplano, Piaget had produced some special timepieces to commemorate this wonderful occasion.
Altiplano 34mm/40mm
A pair of Altiplano 34mm with a sunburst pink dial.
The trio of Altiplano 40mm.
The first piece in the line-up embeds the signature characteristics of colour and light for the Altiplano. Available in a variety of vivid colours, the timepiece aims to bring some vibrancy into dress watches. The 34mm white gold version, meant for the female clientele, is fitted with a pink dial. It is also available with a diamond-set bezel. As for the 40mm timepieces, the dial comes with three different colours – midnight blue, pine green, and slate grey. These watches are paired with a rose gold, white gold, and yellow case respectively. In addition, each of the watches are fitted with an alligator strap that matches the colour of the dial.
The watches are fitted with either the Calibre 430P or the Calibre 1203P movement. The former, which is fitted to the 34mm model, is a manual-winding movement. As for the latter, it is a self-winding movement with an additional date indicator. On that note, the dial for the 40mm timepiece has the inscription “Piaget Automatique”, which pays homage to the historical Piaget timepieces of the yesteryears. It is definitely a nice touch, and one that honours the achievements and provenance of the collection.
Altiplano Manual-Winding 38mm/Self-Winding 43mm
The Altiplano 43mm and 38mm – a nod to its historical models of the yesteryears.
These two watches – one with a manual-winding movement and the other with a self-winding version – are inspired by the first ultra-thin Piaget watches. The aesthetics, which includes a sunburst blue dial and a central cross, is a reminiscence of the historical pieces in Piaget’s archives.
The 38mm timepiece is powered by Calibre 430P, a manual-winding movement that is a mere 2.1mm thick. As for the 43mm version, the watch is fitted with Calibre 1200P. The automatic movement comes with an off-centre micro-rotor in gold, and it features a variety of finishing which includes bevelled bridges and satin-brushed steel parts. The watches are cased in white gold, and they are fitted with a matching blue strap.
Altiplano Natural Turquoise Dial/Opal Dial
A pair of Altiplano with stone dials.
This particular collection, the two novelties each feature a unique stone dial. As its name suggests, one of the watches comes with a turquoise dial, and the other with an opal dial. These watches are cased in pink gold (for the opal dial) and white gold (for the turquoise dial), and they are fitted with a bezel with 72 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery
The Altiplano Tourbillon – a first in the collection.
Saving the best for the last, we have the Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery. This is the first time the Altiplano collection features a tourbillon, and Piaget certainly had done it in style.
The watch is fitted with the 670P ultra-thin manual-winding movement, boasting a power reserve of around 48 hours. The movement is also a mere 4.6mm thick, with a patented stem-winding system which features an intermediate wheel.
Additionally, the watch has a façade that matches its technical prowess. Notably, the watch is fitted with a flinqué enamel dial. It is produced by first manually creating a guilloché pattern on gold, before delicately coating it with layers of transparent enamel. Three firing phases, which are timed to the nearest second and set to the exact temperature of up to 800°C – are then required to achieve this result. In addition, the case, lugs and buckle are fitted with both baguette and brilliant-cut diamonds. It is a stunning piece, and one that certainly fits its status of being the first tourbillon in the Altiplano collection.
For more information, please check out Piaget’s website here.
