Piaget - PIAGET Altiplano Saga: Part 6 – Never Say Never Thin Again

PIAGET Altiplano Saga: Part 6 – Never Say Never Thin Again – Automatic 1200P/1208P

PIAGET Altiplano Saga: Part 6 – Never Say Never Thin Again – Automatic 1200P/1208P movements
By Dr Melvyn Teillol-Foo

Extra-thin Definition
In the absence of a precise definition for ‘ultra-thin watch’, watch brands are able to use their own vague terminology. We observe that watches can be called ‘ultra-thin’ or ‘extra flat’ or ‘extra plate’. By convention, an ultra-thin, hand-wound or self-winding mechanical watch without complications (i.e. indicating hours and minutes, and possibly seconds or the date) is one, whose movement does not exceed 3.5mm in height, including the mainspring barrel but excluding the attachment stem for the hands (hand staff).

When quartz movements were introduced to watchmaking, ultra-thin watch records were repeatedly broken with each generation of transistor miniaturisation and eventually had no meaning when the thickness of the battery and fragility of the watch became the limiting constraints to further development. The thinnest quartz watches broke or bent easily and good examples are hard to find today.

The technical challenge of extra-thin mechanical movements is to obtain sufficient rigidity in the movement for timing precision and accuracy, whilst reducing the construction material used. As the thickness of components and the clearance gaps between parts are reduced, there is more risk of warping and jamming of the movement. Thinning automatic winding movements are more difficult as the design has to balance reliable winding and long power reserve with smaller and lighter components. The development of extra-thin movements prompted amazing feats of technology advance since the extra-thin pocket watches of the 1840s and extra-thin wristwatches through the 20th century. It was and still is the mark of an excellent Manufacture to be able to produce the thinnest mechanical wrist watches; few brands attempt it.

Any extra decoration, engraving and skeletonisation of extra-thin movements are fraught with difficulties relating to reduced rigidity and tolerances. Even fewer brands attempt to do so. Just producing the thinnest movement is no guarantee of producing the thinnest watch because the height of the complete watch case and crystal is the final arbiter for the ‘thinnest watch’ title. Another factor is reliability in mass production. It is feasible to make thinner watches that require specialists’ adjustments on individual watches just to make them work, if only a few are produced. The difficulty is to maintain reliability for large production runs and achieve longevity for the watches. The current reliable extra-thin mechanical movements that work ‘out-of-the-box’ with 40 hours power reserve are around 2mm thick for manual winding and 2.5mm thick for automatic winding. For extra power reserve, some brands take it close to the 3.5mm limit.

Why Thin is Back In
Since the recent global economic crisis, luxury brands and consumers have focused on justification for luxury. One approach for watch brands is to demonstrate the added value of a brand’s heritage, prowess and legitimacy in horology. They are reverting to the classical definitions of top watchmaking skills and reaching for the traditional superlatives – complications, extra-thin or timing accuracy. This may explain the resurgence of extra-thin watches as a mark of the watchmaking Art.

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