Inside the race to create the world’s thinnest watch, from Bulgari’s latest to Richard Mille’s RM UP-01 Ferrari, and Audemars Piguet and Panerai’s offerings – but experts say they’re missing the point

Dec 15 , 2022

Experts say the Piaget x Phillips Altiplano Origin China Special Limited Edition is an example of ultra-thin watchmaking at its finest. Photo: Handout

XXIV 2022

Luxury watchmakers from Audemars Piguet to Panerai and Jaeger-LeCoultre are all driven by their quest for excellence to create increasingly slim, more wearable luxury watches

But while such timepieces are impressive, their thinness is rarely the main reason clients buy them, say experts, and brands should remain focused on their practicality

In 1957, Piaget launched the first of many very seriously skinny movements. The 9P measured just 2mm and was rightfully dubbed the thinnest hand-wound mechanical watch in the world at the time.

The design and functions of these ultra-thin pieces have often been simple: a three-hand round watch with hair-thin baton hour markers punctuating the dial.

The skinny watch has become a big part of Piaget’s watchmaking identity. In 2018, the 4.3mm thick Altiplano 910P, fitted with a peripheral rotor, was crowned the world’s thinnest automatic watch. It was a clear reminder that while other watchmakers had attempted to slim down their watches over the years, Piaget was still very much at the forefront of slender movements.

Piaget X Phillips Altiplano Origin China Special Limited Edition. Photo: Handout

These thin pieces seem to go against the trend for the bulkier aesthetics made popular by the likes of Panerai, Hublot, Roger Dubuis and Richard Mille over the past decade and a half.

Perhaps because of their practicality, or just the incredible engineering involved, ultra-thin watches never disappeared entirely, despite not always being the most talked-about novelties.

“Over the course of history in mechanical horology, there has been a popular consensus that the slimmer the watch, the more top-notch it is,” said Thomas Perazzi, head of watches, Asia, at auction house Phillips.

Small calibres have played a particularly important part in the history of ladies’ timepieces, where generally daintier wrists require smaller movements.

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s subtle 101 Feuille watch bracelet. Photo: Handout

Among the most iconic designs of this genre is Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 101. This ladies’ timepiece has, ever since its launch, housed the world’s smallest mechanical movement: it is only on taking a closer look that the diamond bracelet reveals itself to be, in fact, a watch.

There has been a popular consensus that the slimmer the watch, the more top-notch it is

Thomas Perazzi, head of watches, Asia at Phillips