Piaget have been making watches since 1874, and are famed for their in house ultra thin movements like in this watch. Model reference 13343
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The 12P movement on which this watch’s movement was based was produced from 1960. The helpful people at Piaget have confirmed that this watch was produced in 1977. (This watch was previously estimated at circa 1970 until we had the extra confirmation.)
CONDITION
Making thin watches was seen as the height of complexity for watchmakers, and only the most serious even tried. In 1957 Piaget launched the manual winding 9P, and in 1960 Piaget launched the 12P, the World’s thinnest automatic movement at just 2.3mm. Both of these calibers were developed by the Valentin Piaget, grandson of the founder of the company. To do this they had to use a microrotor rather than a full rotor, and to ensure that turned enough they had to use a heavy, dense metal. They chose 24 k gold for the rotor. This was never a watch for the common man! A little later Piaget introduced the 12PC1, with the C standing for calendar, and this is what we have in this watch. This bulked the movement up to 2.8mm, which is still thinner than the comparable movement used in today’s £18,000 Altiplano. In fact, the design chosen for the 60th anniversary of the Altiplano is very similar to the dial on this watch. The case is 18k yellow gold, and at 34mm a little larger than the ultrathin watches from Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet of the time. Likewise the buckle is also 18k gold and the original item, fitted to the original signed strap. There is even a leather Piaget travel case to keep the watch scratch free. The cabochon cut stone in the crown is chip free and likely to be a sapphire, but we can not be 100% certain on that. The textured dial and case catches the light and both are very clean. This is an excellent example.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box, the original leather pouch and our Certificate of Authenticity.
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SIZE
Width with crown 36.3 mm
Width without crown 33.9 mm
Between lugs 19 mm
Lug to lug length 37.5 mm
Case Thickness 5.4 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
