|
|
|
| Piaget Brand Watches |
One of the lesser known facts in this industry is that Piaget has been one of the most important Swiss producers of ebeuches and movement parts for more than one hundred years, supplying some of the industry's most renowned companies. In com¬parison to the other genuine watch manu¬factures, this company has broadly communi¬cated less of its illustrious history, something that may be founded in the fact that Piaget has only concentrated on producing watches under its own name since the 1950s.
A lot has happened over the last few years at this exclusive watchmaker in remote La C6te¬aux-Fees. The company has managed to break away from its image of being a pure jewelry watch brand, partly as a result of being responsible for designing and supplying movements for the Richemont watch group and its leading brand, Cartier. The caliber 400/500P family that has emerged is, of course, also now being used in diverse models of Piaget's continually growing collections.
|
 |
The Piaget manufacture gave itself plenty of time to construct its first tourbillon. But perhaps it was that the time was not yet ripe for a technical specialty of this category. Caliber 600 is a shaped, manually wound, square movement containing a flying one-minute tourbillon at 12 o'clock. The real show stopper is the incredibly flat construction height of only 3.5 mm, made possible by the tourbillon cage that juts out from the surface of the dial a bit. This cage is an exceptionally complex structure comprising 42 individual components and weighing only 0.2 grams thanks to its conservative dimensions (the balance's diameter is only 7.5 mm). The three main components making up the tourbillon
cage are constructed of feather-light titanium, connected to each other by miniscule screws and taps.
By decorating the circle around the center of the tourbillon cage with cotes de Geneve Piaget is going down an unusual path in terms of the finishing of the movement's back. This is also evident in the numerous retracted corners
(angles rentrants), making the use of machine tools on them impossible, and speaks for the remarkably lavish amount of detailed work: A master beveler (maItre ang/eur) needs an entire week before the individual parts of Piaget Caliber 600P live up to the expectations of its constructor.
Piaget rightfully presents itself today as a manufacture of the finest quality, dedicated to traditional watchmaking skills and technical innovation. Recently, Piaget opened its newly built, completely modern factory building in Plan-Ies-Ouates, a Genevan industrial area jokingly referred to as the "watch suburb" due to the growing settlement of watch companies there. The manufacture of cases and bands and the accompanying tasks of polishing, rhodium¬plating, and jewel-setting are performed on just about 4,000 rn' of contemporary premises. The movement manufacture will however remain in the peace and tranquility of the mountainous Jura town La Cote-aux-Fees.
|
Piaget
|
|
|
|
|
|
