Piaget began supplying watch brands with ultra-thin components in the 19th Century, something that made its name in the thriving watchmaking community of the Swiss Jura mountains.
Two centuries later the brand took things to an insane new level by showing off a watch it called the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, in 2018. Given the “concept” name everyone reasonably assumed it was a one-off.
It certainly seemed like it could never go into production. At 2mm the whole watch was thinner than most watch movements.
It was a preposterously thin feat of micro-mechanical engineering.
Piaget had to dispense with the crown altogether – too bulky. To wind it, one needed to pull out a telescopic “infinite screw” on the side.
Then, two years later, Piaget announced that the Altiplano Ultimate Concept was available to buy. Sure, it was a price-on-request, highly-limited production situation… but given the allowance of time and money, it was theoretically possible to own the mad creation.
It won the prestigious Aiguille d’Or Prize from the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the watch world’s Oscars, which seems fair enough.
And then, last year, Piaget announced a follow-up, of sorts.
The Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tribute to La Côte-aux-Fées had a bridge, screws, hands and a dial in forest green, and a matching strap in alligator leather. The green palate was said to “evoke the feeling of a typical spring or summer’s day in the hills and fields around the village that has been Piaget’s home for almost 150 years”.
And so for 2022, it continues the theme.
This time the new Altipino Ultimate Concept (AUC) is a tribute to itself.
The logo at the top of the dial is in the same typeface the sign had above its manufacture in La Côte-aux-Fées, the village where Piaget started (and remains today).
Two enlarged circles sit among the dots of the minute ring, marking the time – 7:47 – when the prototype AUC took its first “beat”, in 2017. Then at 2:30, the "birthday" of the AUC – 7th February – is inscribed in a tiny window.
A “La Côte-aux-Fées” inscription has also been engraved onto the ratchet wheel, along with the manufacture’s GPS coordinates.
The background of the dial features stars illuminated with Super-LumiNova that are said to replicate the sky above La Côte-aux-Fées at the exact date and time of the AUC’s birth.
You can’t buy this watch. It's one-of-a-kind.
What does it all mean?
It’s hard to say.
It’s certainly impressive.
For balance we should say that Piaget also make a very nice steel automatic watch, the Polo, which doesn’t come with a celestial dial or pay tribute to a typical spring or summer’s day or is as thin as a bit of paper. It’s a more traditional 42mm in size and looks as good with a suit as it does with a jumper.
But we’re glad the new tribute to the Altiplano Ultimate Concept exists too.
