Piaget Altiplano: Luxury watchmaking at its best
MANILA, Philippines - Just when you think fine wristwatches cannot get any slimmer or sleeker, along comes the Piaget Altiplano Date and Automatic gem-set designs from the venerable Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Piaget of Switzerland. Currently the world’s thinnest timepieces, the Piaget Altiplano Date and the Piaget Altiplano Automatic Gem-set Skeleton watches hold two new double records in the world of luxury watch making — an automatic movement coming in at just 3mm thick housed in a record-breaking 6.36 mm case and a 3mm movement in a 6.10 mm case, respectively.
These impressive new feats are possible only with the level of expertise exclusively mastered by Manufacture Piaget. Imagine a watch with no fewer than 221 individual parts patiently designed, produced and assembled by hand to form an intricate and supremely delicate mechanical composition that is the Piaget Altiplano.
Timeless, classic, elegant and purposely understated, this watch is rightly named after the majestic Altiplano (high plains) of the Andes straddling Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina; breathtaking in its purity and natural beauty, the Piaget Altiplano shares these same qualities with its namesake natural wonder in South America.
Crafted in variations of 18K white gold, 18K rose gold and rose gold set with 72 diamonds (approximately one carat in total), the Piaget Altiplano watch series come in masculine and feminine models all specially finished with precious metal cases in some instances gem-setting. Engraved with the prestigious Piaget coat of arms, the models also highlight intricate watchmaking skills that make the Altiplano even more valuable such as the art of enameling, skeleton-working and gem-setting. They come in either exotic black alligator leather straps with 18K white gold pin buckles or gorgeous brown alligator leather straps with 18K rose gold pin buckles.
Piaget pioneered ultra-thin watchmaking at its La Cote-aux-Fées workshop over 50 years ago; the brand’s tireless determination to constantly push the boundaries of the infinitely small has today led them to the Altiplano watch designs, the latest in an impressive succession of record-thin timepieces.
As a Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie, Piaget is the only watch company in the world that has completely and expertly mastered the extremely complex field of “thinning” timepieces, thanks to their two fully integrated workshops in La Cote-aux-Fées and Plan-les-Quates. Combining the complementary and exquisite nature of Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie skills under one luxury brand, Piaget presented the first-ever mechanical movement measuring just 2 mm thin named 9P because of its 9-ligne movement (in watch making jargon) at the Basel Watch Fair in 1957. The launch heralded a worldwide revolution in watchmaking and it was with this hand-wound Calibre 9P and successive versions including the 1960 Calibre 12P self-winding watch upon which the reputation of Piaget was built.
Founded in 1874 by Georges Edouard Piaget in a modest workshop in their family farm in Jura valleys, Piaget has since become a prize-winning, trendsetting, sought-after luxury watch brand in the world. Their latest designs under the Altiplano name are certain to become heirloom timepieces to be passed on among many generations of watch aficionados.
The luxury watch market has become very crowded of late, its growth spurred by the increase in the amount of high net-worth individuals around the globe, particularly in China, who want in on the luxurious lifestyle. But only very few select brands can claim true luxury and one of them is Piaget.
Consistently uncompromising, constantly trendsetting, Piaget leads the luxury watch market with its perfect marriage of design and function, most notably seen and experienced in their latest Altiplano models. Where other brands simply rely on the merit of their name, Piaget backs it up with a watchmaking tradition steeped in the pursuit of excellence and innovation. The Piaget Altiplano is clearly not heavy in weight but is most certainly heavy in bragging rights.
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Piaget Altiplano is exclusively available at Rustan’s Makati.
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