Ultra-thin PIAGET: An Owner's Review and Potted History

 

 

Way back in May 2008, before we had a PIAGET Forum on PuristSPro, I posted about a few watches that had caught the eye of the current Mrs MTF.

The post can be found here:  click here  and the following is an excerpt:  

The current Mrs MTF and my favourite:

Re-edition Piaget Altiplano 1957 with the original 9P thinnest hand-wind movement

Only available from Piaget boutiques in white or rose gold (50 pieces limited worldwide)

9P2 movement

 

Of course, there are only so many watches that one can buy in the world and I could not afford to seek out this watch when it was announced in 2007 as a re-edition of the original 1957 model.

The current Mrs MTF never let me forget that I had made this rash decision (for 2years) and this was exacerbated when Mike Ting posted an excellent photo-review of his modern Altiplano click here     

 My research into enamelling techniques at Piaget click here only served to 'fire' my fervour (enamel...fire...   ) when I found another enamel model; Excerpt Below. 

 

Piaget Emperador Coussin Ref. G0A33016
Large model 18-carat white gold case; White enamel dial, slate grey Roman numerals
Manufacture Piaget 809P mechanical self-winding movement; Limited edition of 50 pieces

 

The Quest

Thus, started the belated quest to find a white gold ref G0A32075.  Of course, little did we know that it was an almost impossible task. The watch had been announced in 2007 as a Boutique-Only Limited Edition of 50 pieces worldwide. The local boutique had received 2 pieces and sold out a year ago. Clearly, there are more than 50 boutiques around the world and even in a target-rich environment like Singapore, it was unrealistic to expect this small island of 4 million inhabitants to have received more. I went a little further afield always keeping my "radar on" everytime a Piaget Boutique loomed into view....no luck. 

I may have even succumbed to the siren-call of Avarice; sub-conciously and mayhaps Un-PuristS-ly, refrained from posting about this now rare watch. I scoured the usual haunts of secondary market and auctions. I even put the word out to my usual 'addiction enablers'  --  to no avail. Nada, Zero, Zilch.

Finally, the solution was to....er....actually talk to a Piaget Boutique staff and ask for help.  Egads! Why did I desist from this action before? Maybe I was a little intimidated; don't worry lads, they don't bite!      In fact, they were most helpful and managed to locate the last piece in the world, using their stock inventory computer system. Result!

 

Owner's Review: Altiplano Enamel 1957 ref G0A32075

 

This quick photograph taken with an excited trembling hand cannot convey the elegant beauty of the dial and hands. A monochrome enamelled dial is punctuated by slender Roman numerals to confer an aura of nobility and strength on the timepiece. Vividly revealing the fundamentals of the art of enamelling, the process of applying the material in layers, one firing after another.  We could see the great care in order to mark the numerals and the brand logo. The surface is just creamy white but with 'depth'; there are tiny 'pores' visible under a 10X loupe that assures the true-fired Grand Feu technique was used.

The enameller’s know-how manages to achieve a subtle nuance in the shade of the material so as make it a perfect match with that of the watch case and bezel. The markings are crisp black and the old-script used for the 'PIAGET ' logo is the most endearing characteristic. There are no other markers to detract from the PuristS and Zen-like aesthetic. Of course, there is no seconds hand; that would account for the lack of seconds markers. But the lack of minutes markers also hark back to an Age when Time was in the service of Man and not the other way around.

The tips of the hands circumscribe perfectly two circles; the inner hour 'circle' forms the base of the Roman numerals that are curved just so, to fit. The outer circle of the minutes hand intersects each numeral 2/3rds of the way up, in a pleasing proportion. That brings us to a discussion about the hands.....and Oh! What hands they are! How shall we describe them? A hybrid of Hollowed Diamond and Dauphine? The hollow or slot down the middle of each hand means that no numeral is completely obscured. There is a 3-D effect as the hands are not flat but have angles surfaces around the midline.

The solid caseback is engraved with the PIAGET crest and information about the Edition, 9P movement, serial numbers and Hallmarks of the Swiss Assay Office. Not having a sapphire caseback also afffords the slimmest watch dimensions. The 6 caseback screws ensure a nominal 3Atm water resistance but nobody expects to go diving with this watch!The simple crown is adorned with the charactieristic 'P' for Piaget.

 

The 38mm diameter case is 'flying saucer' shaped with a much thinner edge than the centre, where the movement resides. This emphasises further the slimness of the famed Piaget Extra-Plat watches. Even at the centre, the watch is only 6.01mm flat; that's just about the thickness of a thin Compact Disc (CD) case. That is mostly due to the manual wind movement  -- the cal. 9P2 that is 2.15 mm thick  -- that's only the thickness of 2 CDs!  With a 19,800A/h beat, the watch has 36h autonomy from the mainspring power coursing through the 86 components, including 18 jewels.

 

The angle of the lugs match perfectly the taper from the centre of the watch to the edge of the case so no extra height is introduced by the lugs. Although slightly curved, the watchglass is essentially flat and flush with the case bevel; all adding to the overall flatness.  A white gold ardillon buckle and black alligator leather strap completes the dress code for this elegant watch.

Conclusion

In use, the lack of a seconds hand makes judgement of daily rate impossible but over time, I estimate the watch to be gaining about 5 sec/day i.e. 5 mins in 2 months.  This watch is the best size to allow sharing between the current Mrs MTF and me. It has been worn with a tuxedo, a business suit, a leather jacket & jeans and even Bermuda shorts and Polo-shirt (what else?   )  Overall, it's our favourite extra-plat watch......period (.)

 

 

PIAGET Ultra-Flat and Ubër-Kool:  A Potted History

 

Piaget Manufacture, La Côte-aux-Fées

Founding fathers: George E. Piaget and family

In 1911, the founder’s third son, Timothée Piaget (1885 – 1975), takes over management of the business that has become a partnership company and Piaget begins to supply the top Swiss brands. Through the 1920s and 1930s, Piaget manufactures ultra-thin, high quality movements.  In 1943, Gérald & Valentin, grandsons of the founder, and their father Timothée, registered the Piaget trademark and incorporated a new firm with one very long name – ‘SA Ancienne Fabrique Georges Piaget & Cie., La Côte-aux-Fées’ . The old workshop began making watches signed and sold as Piaget watches.

 

 

In 1945, Gérald Piaget became Chairman and Managing Director of the business and he travelled widely as the public face of Piaget. His family saw little of him because of frequent international business trips.

Valentin Piaget became Deputy Director and in charge of technical development and production at the Manufacture.

Together, they developed Piaget expertise and fame for extra-plat (flat) movements, breaking one world record after another.

 

The famed and world beating Piaget 12P, 9P (top row) and 4P (bottom row) movements

 

The original 9P (no photo) was 20.5mm x 2.00mm and introduced in 1957; that was one of the world's slimmest manual wind movement at that time. It ran at 19,800 A/h beat with 89 components.

The pictured 9P2 is 20.5mm x 2.15mm also at 19,800 A/h beat but with only 86 components. The extra 0.15mm thickness was sufficient to completely guarantee robustness even though the original 9P already astonished people with it's almost unbelievable reliability for such a slim movement.

9P2

9P2

 

 

Piaget followed up on their achievements wit the introduction of the automatic 12P movement in 1960; the thinnest automatic movement of the age. The movement was 28.1mm x 2.30mm and ran at 19,800 A/h rate with a 40 hour autonomy. The key was the 24K rotor or 'oscillating weight' as they were called then. The extra wide bridge for the oscillating weight ensured robustness despite the thinness of the movement.

 

12P

This is the movement that "Grail Watch" seekers purport to have powered a few mythical original Piaget Polo watches in 1969. Conventional history states that the first Polo watches were quartz-powered.

Ah, the controversy this will create..........

But seriously, folks; this may give us a clue about the novelties for SIHH 2010.  Look at the evidence:

On the 50th anniversary of the first 9P watch in 2007, the Altiplano Enamel 1957 was announced.

On the 30th anniversary of the first Polo watch in 2009, the Piaget Polo FortyFive was announced.

It has not escaped our notice that 2010 is the 50th anniversary of the first 12P watch.....hmmm.

Although Piaget has replaced the regular production of extra flat 9P manual wind movements with the 430P family, they have no current extra-flat automatic movements in the same class as the old and much missed 12P.......not yet, anyway......

 

Regards,

MTF