Piaget

Report of the Piaget Event in Paris

 

The 26th of May, a PuristSPro event took place at the Piaget Boutique of Paris. And believe me, it was a great event around a wonderful topic: the Tourbillon.

This event was not a mere cocktail with a gathering of watches. It was also a great opportunity to share our passion between friends about high-end horology, to learn better the skills of the Piaget Manufacture and to understand why the Piaget Tourbillons are so special. The big surprise was the presence of Gianfranco Ritschel, from the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, who did a very educational presentation about the Tourbillons. It is always difficult to explain with simplicity complex topics. But Gianfranco Ritschel managed to do it with talent.

The Tourbillon is obviously a very paradoxical complication. First of all, is it really a complication? After all, it doesn't bring any new function to the watch! And well... isn't it a bit useless in a context of a wristwatch? And in a pure horological technique, it is much more complicated to create a reliable and efficient chronograph than a Tourbillon. But... a Tourbillon is a Tourbillon. It remains one of the most fascinating proofs of the watchmaking genius. Don't you think that its purpose is to compensate for the effects of a law which can't be ignored? The gravity! I believe this is the reason why the Tourbillon is so magic: it fights against nature.

I write since the beginning "the Tourbillon" as if there is only one way to do it. But it is a totally wrong idea. There are dozens and dozens ways to create a Tourbillon... and I don't even speak about the Flying Tourbillons, the Carrousels, the Double, Quadruple Tourbillons, The Inclinated Tourbillons...each brand has its own strategy about the Tourbillon, to make it more efficient... and more beautiful.

So, why the Piaget Tourbillon are different?

First of it required 3 years of development. It is a  flying Tourbillons, the cage is hung only by one axis.

The cage only contains 42 parts which is quite low: a symbol of simplicity, of efficiency and of lightness: 0,2g.

The bridges are made of Titanium

The  "P" integrated into the cage doesn't have a symetric shape: so the addition of this letter brought a lot of difficulty to get again the right balance and stability of the Tourbillon behaviour:it was not an obvious challenge.

The axis of the balance wheel is off-centered inside the cage to make the whole Tourbillon thinner.

And of course, the 600P is the thinnest Flying Tourbillon of the industry.

We don't have to forget that Piaget is the only Manufacture which currently offers a skeletonized version of its Tourbillon with gems setting.

600P and its cousin the 608P were the stars of the event: I've never seen such impressive gathering of Piaget Tourbillon watches... Polo, Emperador, Limelight... we got them all for our deepest pleasure!

Another surprise came during the event: the Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatique made its first appearance in France just for us!

It was the first time I was able to see this watch after the SIHH. I liked it more than during the Fair. Maybe with a bit of hindsight, I'm starting to be used with the rotor dial side... and I still like a lot the sunrays which bring a touch of modernity. The watch is very "Piaget" but it is also very different from the other watches of the collection.

We couldn't miss the opportunity of our presence at the Boutique to test some Altiplano watches. The Altiplano is more than an iconic watch for Piaget. It is also the base of the collection, the symbol of the brand. But what we often forget is that there are a lot of Altiplano available: hindwind or automatic, 38,40 or 43mm, a broad range of dials... if you don't find your fav Altiplano, it is because you are really not interested in an ultra-thin watch!

I've already known the main part of the Altiplano which were presented during the event.. expect one which surprised me a lot. It was a LE of the 38mm HW Altiplano with an enamel dial which looks like guillochage with an art-déco pattern. Inspired by Vasarely, the dial is true beauty because its colour is always changing. The shades of light on it are really superb. Sadly, the pictures don't give justice to the complex visual effect.

From the Altiplano to the Tourbillons, we got an excellent overview of the current Piaget offer.

Let's browse the pictures now!

20 seconds in the boutique and already with an Altiplano on the wrist:

43mm Automatic:

40mm Handwind:

The 43mm Automatic:

The lay-out of the handwind caliber:

40mm Handwind Altiplano:

Who said that the Altiplano is a watch with a plain dial?

Skeletonized version:

The Platinum LE with its specific dial:

Back with the Automatic on the wrist:

And... drum rolls.... the Altiplano with the "Vasarely enamel dial" (LE of 50 watches):

Silence please! Gianfranco Ritschel starts his presentation:

With three slides, he explained us why the comparison between cars and watches is not valid:

How the Tourbillon works:

Even if the purpose and the basic idea are the same, the modern Tourbillons are very different from A.L.Breguet's one:

Why a Piaget Tourbillon is special:

The guests really enjoyed this clear presentation.

After Mr Ritschel speech, we started again to handle the watches:

Mailman is knocking at the door... Franck, the director of the Boutique is happy to show us for the first time in France the Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatique:

The design seems to be unusual for Piaget but each detail is really a part of the DNA of the brand:

The beauty of the sunrays:

On my wrist:

But... I was wearing the number 1 !!!

Two Emperador Tourbillon:

The Limelight Tourbillon Paris. The boutique is located Place Vendôme but the Place de l'Etoile was also present in our mind thanks to the dial of this watch:

Watching the case sides is like having a walk in Paris:

The watch is thick but the case height contributes to give the feeling of depth:

The skeletonized Tourbillon with gem setting: the crossroads of the two Piaget worlds: watchmaking and jewelry:

Other Tourbillon watches as I showed you a few days ago:

Emperador:



Emperador Moonphases:



Polo Tourbillon:



Limelight Yachting:



I would like to finish my report with a very intriguing watch: this Double-Jeu doesn't gather two watches... but a watch and an hourglass.... thousands of years of time display summarized in a single watch!

Creating these tiny marbles was a real challenge! Of course, the main foe of these marbles is magnetism...
 

I would like to thank a lot the whole team of the Piaget Boutique, Mrs Anselot from the Marketing and Communication department and Mr Ritschel for his presentation and his availability. All the guests really appreciated the event, we spent a wonderful time all together around the Tourbillons and the skills of the Piaget Manufacture.

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This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-05-27 16:05:29 This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-06-13 12:00:51