What minimum thickness can a watch reach without losing the attributes that characterize it (hands, dial, bezel, lugs, etc.)? The debate raged in July 2022, when Richard Mille created a surprise by unveiling its RM-UP01 Ferrari. With its 30 grams and 200 components for 1.75 mm thickness, it set a record for thinness (and price, at 2 million euros each!). But it also sparked controversy with its style, very far from classic watchmaking codes: on this extreme piece, crowns and hands were directly integrated into the workings. Richard Mille then managed to gain by 0.05 mm on the eighth world record established by the Octo Finissimo Ultra by Bulgari, just like the Altiplano Ultimate Concept (AUC) by Piaget. As for the latter, the quest for ultra-finesse is part of the history of the house. As early as the 1960s, its extra-thin mechanical movements with manual winding made the difference, measuring only 2.3 mm thick. In 2022, the Côte-aux-Fées factory pushed the needle even further by unveiling its incredible AUC, only 2 mm thick, the back of which served as a platinum.
This year, in Geneva, the ultra-thin watch duellists face off again. “With the AUC, the challenge is to fit an hour-minute function into 2 mm of thickness,” explains Rémi Jomard, innovation and product director at Piaget. If the new AUC is not thinner, it does however include a tourbillon in its 2 mm thickness. It was an interesting challenge to take on, even if within the house, finesse for finesse's sake is not an objective. Not distorting the dimension and aesthetics has motivated us over the last five years. » Here, the ice above the tourbillon is 2/10th of a millimeter thick, that below is a sapphire crystal only 16/100th of a millimeter thick. That's the equivalent of two hairs. Enough to better understand the sentence written on the back of this queen of finesse: “Always do better than necessary. »
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, 1.7 mm and COSC certified
The Roman house, for its part, unveiled in Geneva (on the sidelines of the show in which it is not participating) the latest incarnation of its Octo Finissimo Ultra: this 2022 vintage of the ultra-thin star is not only chronometer certified by the COSC , but also sets a new world record for watchmaking finesse, with its 1.7 mm thickness. “On nine occasions, our engineers, watchmakers and designers have managed to defy the laws of physics to offer complex watches in record dimensions,” rejoices Antoine Pin, director of the Bulgari watch division. To gain another tenth of a millimeter from this new version, the Bulgari teams had to rework the exterior, from the gears to the sapphire crystal. With a large barrel giving it fifty hours of power reserve, this 40 mm diameter piece uses the case back as a plate on which the 170 components of the manually wound manufacture caliber are integrated.
tungsten carbide assembly, for perfect rigidity. The biggest challenge: managing to optimize the balance to obtain chronometer certification issued by the COSC. Last but not least, its case is a real home watchmaker, in which you simply place your ultra-thin watch for it to be adjusted and wound.