Piaget Unveils The Rolls-Royce Of Ultra-Thin Watches
So thin you could call it a Phantom...
Since the mid-20th century, Piaget has been the undisputed leader in ultra-thin watches and movements. Their latest big thing (or rather, small thing) is the Altiplano Ultimate Concept: at only 2mm thin, it’s one of the thinnest and most impressive watches ever made. Indeed, back in 2020, it was awarded the watchmaking world’s highest honour – the top prize of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the prestigious Aiguille D’Or.
At last year’s Watches & Wonders, Piaget released the Altiplano Ultimate Concept ‘Tribute To La Côte-Aux-Fées’, a limited-edition take on the AUC with a very on-trend green colour scheme that paid homage to the eponymous Swiss Jura village where Georges Edouard Piaget founded the company back in 1874. It was easily one of the coolest watches of the fair, and remains a grail piece for many.
But Piaget has upped the ante at Watches & Wonders 2022 with an even more impressive rendition of the AUC: a one-off simply called the Piaget AUC Unique Piece that we reckon might just be the Rolls-Royce of ultra-thin watches.
Why Rolls-Royce? Well, aside from the immediate connotations of craftsmanship and exclusivity the British car marque brings to mind… Modern Rolls-Royces are famous for their ‘starlight’ headliners, which feature thousands of lights that resemble the night’s sky, and this Piaget similarly features a cosmic motif that gives off a similar air of whimsy and luxury.
The stars are actually made from Super-LumiNova, and replicate the sky above La Côte-aux-Fées at the exact date and time of the AUC’s birth: 7:47 on the 7th of February, 2017, which is also written just above 3 o’clock.
Some of the AUC Unique Piece’s other stylistic details celebrate the AUC’s genesis: the Piaget logo at 12 o’clock is in a historic font that is the same typeface used in the logo above Piaget’s manufacture in La Côte-aux-Fées, and the ratchet wheel is engraved with the manufacture’s GPS coordinates, for example.
Also like a Rolls-Royce, this is one expensive watch. It’s normally nigh-impossible to price one-offs like these: however, Piaget has told DMARGE that the price will start from AU$605,000, depending on how much the eventual client wants to customise the piece. It’s a thin watch you’ll need a fat wallet for, basically…
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