Skeleton Crew: The Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic Beguiles the Senses at Watches and Wonders Shanghai

The summer of 2024 has been all about the “geezer watch” – an eccentrically designed timepiece from a bygone era that looks like it belongs on the wrist of someone who remembers when it was cool.
 

First introduced in 1979, Piaget’s Polo was emblematic of its era. That was why, earlier this year, the brand honored its 45th anniversary by reviving the model in a big way, starting with a reimaging of the original with the Polo 79.
 

Then, a few months later, the brand rolled out two boutique editions of its Polo Date at Watches and Wonders Geneva.
 

Today, we’re happy to report that the Polo will not be mired in nostalgia like an insect in amber. The newest addition to the collection, which makes its debut today, encapsulates the brand’s dedication to modernity.

It is our genuine pleasure to introduce you to the Polo Skeleton Ceramic, Piaget’s first-ever timepiece to use ceramic.

As any member of the Piaget Society knows, the Maison has built a reputation for its elegant adaptations of materials. For instance, the very first Polos employed stone dials.
 

With the new Polo Skeleton Ceramic, we get a fresh take on Piaget’s play with materials as the brand employs ceramic in one of its watches for the first time. Incorporating ceramic into its repertoire was no easy feat; according to the Maison, it took three years to find the perfect jet-black finish to complement the Polo’s jet-set appearance.

In this case, Piaget wanted a sporty look that wraps around the wrist like a second skin. The ceramic also lends itself to the Polo’s ultra-thin silhouette and signature gadroons, yet the material gives it a much more modern appearance.
 

The use of ceramic has also allowed designers to play around with the Polo codes while staying true to the model’s exploratory spirit. It’s dressy; it’s sporty. And this insouciance addresses the quickly shifting tone of our current sartorial mood.

Another reason to celebrate the Polo Ceramic Skeleton is its openworked dial. Like the use of ceramic, it’s aesthetically pleasing, but a skeleton is only really appealing if it’s opening a window into an interesting movement.

In this case, we have the ultra-thin self-winding Manufacture 1200S1 calibre. This state-of-the-art mechanism brings the Polo Skeleton Ceramic’s thickness to an astonishing 7.5mm – just 1.0mm above the existing Piaget Polo Skeleton steel and gold models. This level of thinness is a rare feat for any skeleton model with an automatic winding system.
 

Piaget has mastered the art of skeletonization since 1948, and the Piaget Polo collection has long provided a showcase for Piaget’s openwork wizardry. The most famous example of this handiwork is Miles Davis’s Polo from 1984, a piece made to commemorate the musician’s appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
 

Since then, the brand has also created both gem-set skeletonized editions as well as cut-away dials that shone a light on the Manufacture’s horological innovations, like its 600P tourbillon.

More recently, Piaget has been experimenting with color in the Polo Skeleton family, decorating the in-house caliber 1200S1 with bridges in daring blue or gray hues. For instance, the brand treated the movement of its Only Watch 2024 entry with multicolor layers of green, blue, and rose gold skeletonization. Each generation of these colorways has built up to the Polo Skeleton Ceramic.
 

To keep this new dark edition feeling light, a special titanium container treated with black DLC houses the ceramic case and components. The design also features mechanical elements treated in subtle gray. Moreover, it has flashes of electric blue on the oscillating weight as well as indices and hands filled with Super-LumiNova.

Altogether, the Polo Skeleton Ceramic has layers. Thus, to complete this feeling of depth and dynamism, the watch takes advantage of the brand’s SingleTouch interchangeable strap system, offering either a black rubber strap with a steel and titanium folding clasp or an additional blue rubber strap.
 

The new Polo Skeleton Ceramic is available today. For more information, including pricing, visit the Piaget website.