A Closer Look At the Piaget Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin Watch

Before delving into the newest  complicated Piaget Polo watch, I must say that I have long been a lover of the Polo watch — and even had the amazing opportunity to attend the 1986 Celebrity Polo Match that the brand sponsored in Palm Springs – complete with a host of celebs and Prince Charles. Read on for more on that.

 

Meanwhile, as to the newest Piaget Polo: it is a Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin watch.Creating ultra-thin watches is a feat of technical prowess, as is creating a perpetual calendar watch, but bringing these two complications together is an exercise in balance, beauty and technical art.  The new watch, crafted in stainless steel with a bright bold green dial,  is powered by the brand’s 1255P Caliber and boasts a moonphase display along with day, date, year and leap year – accurate to the year 2100 when all perpetual calendars will need a slight adjustment on March 1 because that year we will skip the scheduled leap year in order to have solar time and calendar time align.

Piaget has a long history with ultra-thin movements and has been a leading  pioneer over the decades in this field – unveiling many world firsts as far back as 1960 when it released the in-house-made 12P movement with micro rotor.  The newest movement, the 1255 ultra-thin 4mm caliber with 42 hours of power reserve, was inspired by its 1200 P caliber that features the case back as the base for the movement.  The new watch – complete with the complicated perpetual calendar functions, measures a scant 8.65mm in thickness and 42mm in diameter.

The watch uses subdials for the calendar indications and moon phases. It also features the gadroons that have graced this iconic case since 1979. Sold with a stainless steel bracelet, it is endowed with a new interchangeable strap system, SingleTouch,  and comes with a rubber strap with the pattern of the gadroon dial on it. The watch retails for $58,500.

An icon in watchmaking history, the Piaget Polo was created by Yves G. Piaget in 1979, who liked the idea of a sporty, yet sophisticated, watch that was more of a bracelet than a watch. In those days, yellow gold was all the rage and the watch was picture perfect. Yves aligned the Piaget brand with the sport of Polo and the watch fast became a luxury standard among celebrities. Not only did socialites like artist Andy Warhol and actor/singer Sammy Davis Jr. wear the watch, but also by the 1980’s a host of top television stars also donned the timepiece.

As mentioned above, I personally remember going with Piaget in the 1980’s  to the celebrity Polo events and mingling with the likes of Bill Devane, Richard Dean Anderson, and even Prince Charles,  along with Yves Piaget. Here’s to a big blast from the past.