Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept: How Piaget Made a Tourbillon Disappear - Yanko Design

"The Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept rethinks the wristwatch by integrating the case and movement into a single unit. The watch measures just 2.0 mm thick. Rather than luxury jewelry masquerading as horology, Piaget built an engineering manifesto written in M64BC cobalt alloy and sapphire crystal. Designer: Piaget Piaget's latest release demonstrates that ultra-thin timepieces can maintain their function without compromising form. The company's approach shows how extreme constraints can drive superior engineering solutions."

"Traditional watchmaking separates case from movement like floors in a building. The movement sits inside protective walls, the dial covers everything up, and each component occupies its own vertical space. Piaget filed five patents to eliminate this architecture entirely. The caseback becomes the main plate. Bridges transform into both structural elements and dial features. Gears integrate directly with visual components so the face reads like an architectural model where every visible element serves a mechanical purpose."

"This integration allowed Piaget to achieve exactly 2.00 mm from crystal to caseback. The sapphire crystal measures approximately 0.2 mm thick. Individual wheel components were manufactured down to approximately 0.12 mm thickness. These represent fundamental rethinking of mechanical watch construction rather than incremental improvements. The Manufacture 970P-UC movement powers the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, running at 28,800 vibrations per hour and requiring hand winding. Every component was redesigned to exist in essentially two dimensions while maintaining three-dimensional functionality."

Piaget rethought the wristwatch by integrating case and movement into a single 2.00 mm-thick unit, using M64BC cobalt alloy and sapphire crystal. The caseback serves as the mainplate and bridges double as structural and dial elements, while gears and visual components are directly integrated. Sapphire crystal measures approximately 0.2 mm; individual wheel components reach about 0.12 mm thickness. Five patents were filed to eliminate traditional case/movement architecture. The Manufacture 970P-UC movement powers the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon at 28,800 vph with hand winding, and the visible tourbillon turns mechanical necessity into visual theater. The design continues a six-decade Piaget pursuit of ultra-thin movements.

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