Swiss watchmaker Piaget has made dreams a reality with the full-production launch of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept. The watch was first shown at SIHH 2018 where it was introduced as the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, measuring an incredibly svelte 2mm thin. Piaget had to manufacture several new parts to make the thin profile possible, and so the idea of it becoming a full-production model we could buy seemed unlikely, or not possible at all.
Piaget has now silenced the doubters with this recent announcement.
The Altiplano Ultimate Concept is made using a newly developed cobalt-based alloy that is said to be 2.3 times stronger than gold, and as mentioned before, several of its 283 individual parts had to be re-sized and re-engineered. Wheels, for example, have been reduced from a conventional 0.2mm thick to 0.12mm and the sapphire crystal comes in at 0.2mm. On standard watches, it’s usually 1mm.
Given the size, or rather, the lack of size of this timepiece, the power reserve from its mind-boggling movement – which is machined directly into the case – is an impressive 40 hours.
But if the minute proportions of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept weren’t enough, Piaget has said it is completely customisable. Using the company’s “Style Selector” service, you can change the colour of the bridge and dial, finish of the hands and main plate, as well as the strap. By default, the AUC comes with a specially developed ultra-thin alligator skin strap with velvet calfskin lining and Kevlar core.
Piaget says there are a staggering 10,000 permutations of the AUC, which given the level of ingenuity involved to manufacture the watch is astounding. It does, however, mean that on the off-chance, you meet someone else wearing one, there will be a very good chance your models won’t be the exact same.
Pricing is perhaps unsurprisingly, available on request although a release date has yet to be decided. Our eyes will now be peeled to see if Michael B. Jordan gets one of his own.