GPHG “AIGUILLE D’OR” GRAND PRIX: Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept

GPHG BÜYÜK ÖDÜLÜ ALTIN İBRE (AIGUILLE D’OR)

Piaget won the 2020 GPHG (Grand Prix d‘Horlogerie de Genève) Grand Prix with its Altiplano Ultimate Concept model.

The Altiplano Ultimate Concept was developed entirely in-house by Piaget’s dedicated Research and Innovation division, which is famous thin watches. 30 designers, 30 micro-mechanical engineers and 30 watchmakers have worked on the movement for 6 years. In this period, many of the established codes of watchmaking were re-invented.

The Altiplano Ultimate Concept is a watch that is mere 2 mm, including a 41 mm case and sapphire crystal. 2 mm has a symbolic value; the same thickness as the iconic 9P calibre Piaget unveiled in 1957 at Baselworld. That shook the world of watchmaking, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept served as a stage for numerous Piaget innovations, including the case being part of the movement, an integrated winding crown, an ultra-thin crystal and more importantly new constructions for the barrel and the energy regulation.

With the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, the idea was to create a watch not formed by multiple layers, but from a previously untried fusion of re-scaled components (167), combining the case and the movement as a whole. To achieve this, Piaget embarked on a journey of miniaturisation that resulted in the filing of no fewer than five patents and that led to this 2mm-thin hand-wound watch, with wheels as thin as 0.12mm and the sapphire crystal down to a mere 0.2mm.

The Altiplano Ultimate Concept, therefore, continues the Maison’s great tradition in the art of ultra-thin watchmaking.

Highlights