Piaget is world-famous for its vibrant creations within the area of watches and jewelry. On this video, we’re having a look at an vital but generally lesser-known aspect of the model: its experience within the area of motion creation and manufacturing. Every part began within the small village of La Côte-aux-Fées within the Swiss Jura mountains, the place Georges Edouard Piaget arrange his workshop in 1874. There, G.E. Piaget made a reputation for himself first specializing in escapements after which manufacturing elements and actions, even earlier than crafting his personal watches. Since then, Piaget has remained one of many few manufacturers to design and manufacture actions in-house. Amongst numerous calibres created and crafted by the model, legendary extra-thin actions instantly come to thoughts. However Piaget additionally manufactured all kinds of problems and even quartz actions! If it will be arduous to checklist each motion manufactured by Piaget, we’re going to try a number of the model’s milestones, together with a number of lesser identified ones that actually price a point out…
The Origins, the artwork of ultra-thin and miniaturization
As chances are you’ll think about, this deep-rooted custom and experience in ultra-thin watchmaking didn’t come again out of the blue… Piaget specialised very early, from the early twentieth century, within the artwork of miniaturization.
The calibres 9P and 12P
In 1945 Piaget moved to a brand new manufacture, the next years have been a interval of intense exercise, with the creation of a number of the best-known historic extra-thin Piaget calibres. The 5P was offered in 1946. In 1957, Valentin Piaget offered the calibre 9P, one of many slimmest mechanical actions at simply 2mm. In 1960, the two.3mm-thin computerized calibre 12P with its micro-rotor was then the thinnest computerized motion.
The Calibre 2P, 4P and 6P
The Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties have been a really wealthy interval of creativity for the model with many actions such because the calibre 2P, a miniature rectangular motion, and the calibres 4P and 6P with respective diameters of 4 and 6 traces, comparable to 9mm and 13.5mm.
The Calibre 20P and 25P
The 20P and 25P are record-thin but delicate actions made with Jean Lassale within the mid-Nineteen Seventies. The Piaget Calibre 20P, primarily based on the Jean Lassale Calibre 1200, was a staggering 1.2mm suppose motion whereas the 25P, its computerized model was solely 2.08mm in thickness. Method thinner than the rest created earlier than, these calibres built-in a number of progressive ideas equivalent to their structure and the usage of ball bearings. A number of concepts have been on the base of recent, record-thin actions.
Curiously the rights to fabricate these Lassale actions have been later acquired by Lemania. Lemania was taken over by Piaget in 1981 earlier than being offered to Investcorp within the early Nineteen Nineties and built-in into Breguet and the Swatch Group.
The Quartz Period
In the course of the Nineteen Seventies, the recognition of the brand new, correct quartz watches plunged the Swiss mechanical watch business right into a deep disaster. Certainly, quartz watches have been a technological breakthrough, permitting watchmakers to supply timepieces that have been cheaper and extra correct than the rest earlier than. Piaget has a number of milestones within the area. It was one of many pioneers of this new expertise, being a part of a consortium of Swiss manufacturers that created the primary prototype quartz wristwatch in 1966, the Beta 21 motion. For instance, the cushion-shaped Piaget watch worn by Andy Warhol throughout the Nineteen Seventies was created round an evolution of this motion, changing into the Beta 22.
However there are different fascinating and unique developments within the area such because the ultra-thin 7P in 1976, powering the primary Polo watches. Introduced within the early Nineteen Nineties, the 212P is an unique high-end chronograph perpetual calendar quartz motion. There’s additionally the 570P and 700P that have been offered about 10 years in the past, which have been unique, hybrid, principally mechanical actions whose manufacturing remained fairly restricted. It had no battery and it was wound by a rotor… nevertheless it was regulated by a quartz oscillator.
The Renaissance of Extremely-Skinny Mechanical Watchmaking
With the renaissance of mechanical watchmaking within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, Piaget pursued its custom of crafting mechanical actions. A big portfolio of actions and problems has been developed, together with a number of the most refined capabilities – together with tourbillons and minute repeaters.
However there once more, ultra-thin deserves a particular point out… Changing the 9P, the two.1mm skinny 430P (and the 500P in computerized model) was the primary fashionable motion to perpetuate Piaget’s custom of crafting elegant costume watches. Worthy of a point out too are the extra-thin 1200P micro-rotor calibre offered in 2010 and the 1270P with micro-rotor Tourbillon, each launched in splendid skeletonized and stone-set variations.
The Grail of Extremely-Skinny at Piaget, the Calibre 900P, 910P and the Document-Skinny Altiplano Final Idea
Introduced in 2014, the Calibre 900P – and later its computerized model with a peripheral rotor, the 910P – marked an vital step with its ingenious building, with a fusion of the primary plate and the caseback. This allowed Piaget to current Altiplano watches as skinny as 3.65mm.
Nonetheless, the jewel on the crown of Piaget’s ultra-thin actions is undoubtedly the Altiplano Final Idea. At a mere 2mm, it was the thinnest mechanical watch ever because it was unveiled in 2018. Impressed by the 900P, the novel reengineering of the structure of a watch, its absolute slenderness has been achieved by fusing the motion’s primary plate, the case and the bezel into one single part. A number of wheels are rotating on ball bearings eliminating the necessity for bridges. The identical goes for the stability. It’s cantilevered and pivots straight on the caseback on ball bearings. Will probably be arduous to checklist all particulars that made this achievement attainable however no fewer than 5 patents have been filed in the midst of its improvement.
Motion manufacturing and the artwork of ultra-thin are an extended custom at Piaget. The model has even been a maker for different manufacturers equivalent to Omega or Cartier through the years. Most significantly, this experience in miniaturization allowed Piaget to create a singular experience, with on one hand pared-down ultra-thin watches and, however, fascinating creativity with expressive designs and colors. And on this interval of fierce competitors within the area of ultra-thin watchmaking, we’re trying ahead to seeing what the model would possibly current subsequent. Let’s meet in a number of days at Watches and Wonders. We is perhaps stunned as soon as extra.
For extra particulars, please go to piaget.com.
