Presented in 2018 at SIHH as a concept watch, Piaget's Altiplano Ultimate Concept is the world's thinnest mechanical watch. With an overall thickness of only 2 mm, this watch served as a launchpad for numerous Piaget innovations, starting with elements such as the case (which forms a whole with the movement), the integrated crown and the ultra-thin glass. Now, after its virtual presentation at Wathes & Wonders 2020, this innovative timepiece is being produced commercially and is thus ready for everyday use. The Altiplano Ultimate Concept was entirely developed and produced by Piaget's Research & Innovation division, which worked exclusively on the prototype for four years, reinventing many of the watchmaking codes. Piaget, a master in the production of ultra-thin timepieces since 1957, had already used the concept of fusing case and movement - made possible by the special creation of three components: the case, case back and plate made directly from a single block of gold - for the 900P in 2014 (3.65 mm) and the 910P in 2018 (4.3 mm), at that time the thinnest watches in the world. To achieve the goal of creating a watch only 2 mm thick, the team had to abandon conventional thinking as the classic design dictates a standard construction with a separate movement and case. Too thin to use gold, a new, highly resistant cobalt alloy - 2.3 times stronger than gold - but much harder to machine had to be used for the case of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept. Several parts (not only of the mechanism) have been entirely resized, such as the wheels, for example, which have been reduced from a conventional 0.20 mm to 0.12 mm thick, or the sapphire crystal, normally 1 mm thick in a standard watch, has been reduced by the 80% to an incredible thickness of just 0.2 mm. The barrel spring has also been given a completely new design. It has neither cover nor barrel, but is mounted on a single ceramic ball bearing inside the structure of the watch and allows a power reserve of up to 40 hours. The crown has been reinvented to take the form of a flat, telescopic system (with its own specially designed winding instrument); integrated into the case middle, its traditional sliding pinion takes the form of a worm screw. Finally, the off-centre position of the dial prevented the use of a traditional winding shaft, a problem that Piaget solved by creating a patented 'offset' shaft.
