From the ultra-thin to the ultra-thin, the quest for the infinitely thin has become the territory of expression for a few watch brands that wage battle uncompromisingly. They are three on the podium and the one who, in the end, climbed the top step, was far from expected on this ground. Historically, Piaget was one step ahead of its pursuers.
Considered since 2013 as a specialist in ultra-thin components, in 1957 the house launched a caliber 2 mm thick. A succession of technical feats made the watchmaker the master in the field until 2018, when the Altiplano Ultimate Concept became the thinnest ultra-thin watch with manual winding mechanical movement on the market.
“There are no real limits”
It was without counting on a challenger, Bulgari, who arrived only ten years ago on the fine mechanical watch market. From 2014, the Octo Finissimo line has endeavored to reduce the thickness of haute horlogerie timepieces: from the manual tourbillon to the automatic tourbillon, to the automatic skeleton chronograph tourbillon, the minute repeater and the perpetual calendar, by passing through the automatic GMT chronograph and the automatic Octo Finissimo, seven world records were established. Last March, the Octo Finissimo Ultra was unveiled.
At 1.80 mm thick, the equivalent of a 20-centime coin, this mechanical watch becomes the thinnest in the world and records an eighth record for Bulgari, accompanied by as many patent filings. If this edition seems singular, with its QR code – engraved on the dial side and associated with an NFT work of art -, it would seem all in all almost classic next to the horological UFO which was to steal the show four months later: the RM UP-01 Ferrari. In partnership with the Scuderia, Richard Mille signs an ultra-thin 1.75 mm watch, including 1.18 mm for the movement, which surprises as much by its micro-miniaturization as by its somewhat disruptive design and the original layout of his functions. Nothing surprising in this for Jean-Claude Biver, former boss of the watchmaking division of LVMH: “You can always go further, there are no real limits”.