Sign up to Esquire's About Time newsletter, style director Johnny Davis’s straight-talking take on the wonderful world of watches.
There's something seriously irresistible about slim machinery.
We want our phones and laptops to be slender as possible, our game consoles, televisions and practically every other gadget too.
When Tim Cook (Apple CEO) says “thinnest ever” we say, “hell yeah!” before transferring funds from Savings to Current.
Slim tech is just so high-tech. So... sexy. Wouldn't you agree?
For those of you who are nodding, we've got something brand-new to show you that'll blow your socks – and maybe even your watch – off.
It's a Piaget timepiece, built with a tourbillon, that's exceptionally thin.
Like, coin-thin.
Card-carrying members of the watch community will be reading this, looking at the photos, thinking they're experiencing déjà vu.
Didn't we already see that?
We did. This is the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept. Same name as the one they're thinking of that was unveiled back in 2018. Same thickness (2mm) and everything.
But, as mentioned above, this one boasts a tourbillon (located at 10 o’clock) – the first of its name does not.
And that's supremely impressive because it means it can handle the 30% additional power required by the complication.
To make this possible, Piaget had to start from scratch. “The connection with the Altiplano Ultimate Concept is clear but we did far more than merely add a tourbillon,” says the brand's CEO, Benjamin Comar, “we reinvented everything.”
Why does it exist? “Driven by inventiveness” Piaget embarked on a “quest for elegance” to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
To wit, they wanted to mark a monumental milestone with something awfully spectacular they could brandish at this week's Watches and Wonders.
Their finest watch, Now With Tourbillon!, certainly fit the bill.
It's also fine in the other sense of the word: blue, openwork dial, PVD-treated cobalt alloy case, 41.5mm diameter.
The foxy thing's even got a tattoo. (Well, a signature.)
It's positioned on the back, next to a sapphire crystal placed under the tourbillon, and it reads, “Tojoures faire meiux que nécessaire”.
French → English: “Always do better than necessary.”
That's ironically deep for something so very shallow.
Joseph Furness is the Assistant Editor of Esquire, covering menswear and grooming. Joseph has previously written for the likes of British GQ, Mr Porter, Highsnobiety, Footwear News and Farfetch.
