Horological Meandering

So really as a starting point we need to try and establish just what is an Ultra Thin watch, now unfortunately there is no clear definition of just what makes an watch Ultra Thin, there is no ISO standard as for dive watches or something akin to the COSC standards for movements. The only way I can see to reach a logical consensus is to look back at the earliest and later examples of Ultra Thin watches and from that we can conclude from the majority just what defines a watch as Ultra Thin. Obviously it goes without saying without Ultra Thin movements there could be no Ultra Thin watches but it is important to realise that making an Ultra Thin watch is not a simple task of just reducing its thickness the complexities in doing should not be underestimated. There is good reason why you will find Ultra Thin watches are made alongside Grand complication watches in the workshops with the most skilled and experienced watchmakers and why they are more expensive to service.

At the time Ultra Thin watches first started to appear the dress watch was king and although there were dive watches the birth and rise of the sports watch had not yet arrived and changed the landscape. These watches were made to be elegant stylish and refined they were simple two handed watches and adhered to the less is more ethos and IMO were stunning. We really shouldn't need to have a firm dimension specification for Ultra Thin watches as really just looking at an watch will tell you if it is Ultra Thin or not it is impossible to see a Ultra Thin watch and not realise that is what it is. 

The vast majority of the early Ultra thin watches were between 30mm and 33mm for round watches and 23mm to 26mm for shaped watches but they all had one thing in common they were all under 5mm thin some were even thinner than this but these were the outliers and exceptional examples of Ultra Thin watch making at its limits. It is also worth noting that at this time there were no exotic super strong, super light materials, no computer aided design and no advanced machinery that could be used to aid in the manufacture of these watches, these watches relied on the highly skilled artisans in the workshops to make them.

Most of the Grand maisons we think of and still love today all made Ultra Thin watches some with fully in house movements, cases and dials others bought in a lot of these components and assembled them in house all were beautiful in their own right. One Maison above all others deserves a special mention and that is Piaget who whilst still under family ownership made everything themselves in house. Piaget for a long time were known as and considered the King of Ultra Thin watches and for good reason. Not only did they do it all themselves but they offered their clients the ability to truly customise and make their watch their own and special to them. From a base model their clients could choose the finish of the case the dial colour and or material the style of the hands and even the numerals or none this is something we even rarely see today bar from a few independants and deserves our admiration IMHO.

So it is my conclusion that Ultra Thin watches are indeed special and that by looking at the majority of watches and from reading what others have posted to be considered as an Ultra Thin watch it needs to be sub 5 mm with of course a small amount of deviation allowed. I have seen the argument proposed that watches that house complications are of course going to be thicker and that even at 8,9 or 10mm they can still be considered to be Ultra Thin. I wholly reject this proposal as whilst these watches may still be magnificent and technically brilliant they are quite simply not Ultra Thin and never will be. 

Below I am posting some examples of beautiful Ultra Thin watches for your pleasure.

 

Credit quattro and Avocado Vintage Watches

Credit European Watch Company

Credit Watches of Knightsbridge Curated 

Credit European Watch Company

Credit European Watch Company

Credit Watches of Knightsbridge 

Last but not least are my two examples of Ultra Thin watches

This is actually just Part 1 of my planned posts Part 2 will discuss what are not Ultra Thin watches but still labelled as such by the manufacturer and why this is wrong.

Marc

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