Piaget Altiplano Double Jeu Rose Gold Review

It’s two Piaget watches in one!

I am relatively new to the world of Piaget watches. Piaget is a name that I have always been aware of, but I had always associated the brand with high-end jewelry timepieces, not necessarily elegant gentlemen’s watches. As a collector of Vacheron Constantin watches and the moderator of the VC forum here at PuristSPro it is no surprise that I am a big fan of Vacheron Constantin’s Patrimony Contemporaine collection, which are distinguished by the use of slim, elegant cases, simple dials, and beautifully finished manufacture movements. I am rather naturally drawn to Piaget’s Altiplano collection, which shares a philosophic approach with the Patirmony Contemporaine but with an expression that is unique to Piaget.

I also like to be amused by a watch, and Piaget’s Altiplano Double Jeu tickles my fancy!

At a glance the 43 mm rose gold case would appear to house a chronograph, but in the Double Jeu, where one would ordinarily expect to crown to be at the 3 o’clock position, one finds the release button to reveal the lower case, housing a separate watch with it’s own movement.

The crown at 2 o’clock controls the movement in the upper case, which houses the caliber 838P, Piaget’s ultrathin hand-wound mechanical manufacture caliber. The design of this movement places the subsidiary seconds in a position different from the traditional 6 o’clock, and it is another nod to the amusing quality that appeals so much to me.

There is a sapphire crystal on the case back of the upper case to reveal the caliber 838P. This slim (2.5 mm) movement is 26.8 mm in diameter, which is fairly large for a manual winding movement, and which allows for the placement of the subeconds dial to be sufficiently far enough away from the center of the dial to appear balanced.

The movement nicely shows Piaget’s trademark finishing: blued screws on the bridges, fine beveling of those bridges, circular Cotes de Geneva finishing, perlage on the base plate, and the engraved coat of arms.

The lower case uses the caliber 832P, which like the 838P in the upper case, is based on the 830P, Piaget base. The hour hand on this dial makes one revolution every 24 hours, clearly distinguishing AM from PM. It takes a little getting used to, but I appreciate the useful novelty is this display – another facet of the Double Jeu with amuses me

The back of the lower case is solid, and is the surface that rests against the wrist.

The extreme thinness of the two movements allows the stacked lower and upper cases to still have the proportions of a normal watch. The height of the entire watch is all of 11.7 mm.

The understated printing on the dial is very attractive, with alternating double and single indexes. The frame around the subsidiary seconds echoes the frame of the bezel around the dial, reinforcing the watch-in-a-watch concept behind the Double Jeu.

I have to applaud Piaget for both the concept and execution of the Double Jeu, and even credit the marketing department for the name (Double Game), which emphasizes the fact that a serious timepiece can also be fun, both to operate and to wear.

Bill