Horological Meandering

The biggest part of what makes an ultra-thin movement special is that when watches are ULTRA thin, movement parts are completely different than normal movement parts.  The movement parts themselves are ultra thin, easily warped, and just inherently more fragile.  A steel gear is often only half the thickness of a normal steel gear and thus, it can be incredibly difficult to get parts to align and work well.  Furthermore, finishing these parts with the anglage and normal decorations are even more difficult as it's important to avoid warping nor distorting the movement plates.  

Even more interesting perhaps is assembly becomes MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.  The Jaeger-LeCoultre factory has two main production lines; the "grand complication room" where watches are generally assembled by one master craftsman, and the normal assembly room where movements are put together by a small team of individuals who each graft on their module to a tray of about ten movements at a time.  The Jaeger-LeCoultre 849 movement is 1.85mm thick and made in the "Grand Complication Room" as assembly is so delicate that only expert watchmakers are able to troubleshoot the problem.  Make no mistake, the true ultra-thin movements are incredible feats - it's a complication in itself.  Ultra thin movements are also incredibly difficult to regulate as tolerances are much more minute.  So don't expect perfect accuracy on an ultra-thin movement.  



Comparison photo: MING 27.01 is 6.9mm thick; the JLC Reverso here is 7.2mm thick; and the JLC Master Ultra Thin 38 manual wind is 6.3mm thick when cased.  


The Bulgari Octo Finissimo movement is around 2.23mm thick.  It's generally considered to be an ultra-thin movement.  



The entire watch cased is only about 5.15 mm thick.

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