Piaget Altiplano Self-Winding 40 mm Review

At SIHH 2014 Piaget just gave us another impressive addition to the Altiplano collection with its ultrathin caliber 900P timepiece, but I'd like to take a look at the star of SIHH 2013 when the brand brought out the Self-winding Date model. For the first time Piaget put a complication in an Altiplano and the with a simple date window it feels as at home here as the date window does in a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5296, Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle 87172, or Breguet Classique 5277.


The award winning 43 mm Altiplano Self-winding was introduced in 2010 and is notable for being the slimmest automatic watch on the market with a case thickness of just 5.25 mm. It features the ultrathin caliber 1208P which employs an off-center oscillating weight to keep the mainspring fully wound and which has a thickness of a mere 2.35 mm.


I find both the layout of the movement and the finishing is very attractive.


Adding the date function takes the thickness of the caliber 1205P up to 3 mm from the mere and the case thickness up to 6.36 mm (which is still thinner than the Altiplano manual winding 40 mm watch with caliber 838P).


The Altiplano Self-winding 40 mm comes in either rose gold or white gold 3 body case, each of which has a high polish finish. The water resistance bumps up to 30 meters from the 20 meters of the thinner 43 mm model, which is perfectly acceptable for a dress watch.

The dial follows the guidelines set down by the 43 mm model, with a three layer design: outer dial, inner dial, and recess for the small seconds, which has a traditional snailing finish:


The date window is placed at 9 o'clock to balance the small seconds at 4:30.


The rose gold model (reference GOA38131) comes with a retail value of $25,000, and the white gold (GOA38130) is $26,000, each a modest premium to the 43 mm models without the date, and competitive with offerings from Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and Breguet. I find the 43 mm too large a dress watch for my wrist. This 40 mm model, with its slightly larger case thickness, is a better looking and more comfortable fit:


Piaget delivers the watch with a tang buckle, and the strap has some padding and so takes a little bit of time to break in.

It would be a tough call for me to choose between this 40 mm Self-winding or the 40 mm Manual-winding with small seconds at 10 o'clock:


I can hear the salesman saying "Why not get both?" and it would be tempting to do just that.

Which would you choose?

Bill