Piaget Limelight Gala High Jewelry
Watches & Wonders 2020: Piaget’s Latest Creations Are Extra-Flat And Extra-Fabulous
Piaget has broken its own record for the world’s thinnest mechanical watch and shines a spotlight on the Limelight collection.
By Hyla Bauer
Contributor
Piaget is introducing new crave-worthy watches for 2020. Collectors will certainly salivate over Piaget’s latest, thinner-than-ever Altiplano Concept watches. And for those who crave a little flash, there are plenty of jeweled Limelight Gala watches to add to their wish lists. Let’s take a look.
New Altiplano Ultimate Concept Watches
Piaget already holds the world record for slimmest mechanical watches. After all, the Altiplano Ultimate manual watch in the current collection measures just 3.65 millimeters thick. Not resting on its laurels, the brand continues to innovate, always pushing to new watchmaking heights (or lows, in this case).
This year, they’ve made even thinner hand-wound mechanical pieces that are just 2.0mm thick. To put that measurement in perspective, Piaget’s Polo S watch in steel is 11.2mm high. Currently, they’re at the concept stage, hence the name, but that doesn’t take away from this tremendous feat of watchmaking.
So how did Piaget improve on perfection? The watch took six years to develop. Part of the answer to the new thinness is likely its diameter. While its predecessor is 38mm, the new Altiplano Ultimate Concept is 41mm wide. Now, 41mm is by no means a crazy-big diameter for Piaget, whose Governeur watch measures 43mm across.
In a merging of the caliber and the watch’s case, the watch’s mainplate also serves as the dial. The incredibly thin, 0.2mm, watch crystal also provides a great view of the paper-thin mechanics.
There are five patents pending on the new Ultimate Concept pieces. Their strength and stability are enhanced by a new cobalt-based high-tech alloy case. The watch’s bezel is integrated into the watch’s frame, which is made of a single block of metal, enhancing its strength once again. The watch’s winding crown is barely visible as its rectangular shape screws down to integrate exactly into the watch’s frame, which, again, is made of a single block of metal.
New Limelight Gala Watches - Shining the Light Fantastic
It’s a banner year for jewelry lovers at Piaget. Of course, the brand is world-renowned for its fine jewelry and spectacular one-of-a-kind high jewelry pieces, so it’s no surprise that the new Limelight Gala watches are adorned with colored precious gemstones.
There’s a lot that is new here, with plenty of choices to suit a woman’s personal style. The Limelight Gala Precious Sapphire Gradient features brilliant-cut blue sapphires encircling the case and extending to the bracelet. The watch’s dial and bracelet are also engraved with Piaget’s unique Palace Décor mesh-like texture. Another version of this watch is available on a dark blue alligator strap.
The Limelight Gala Precious Red Gold features diamonds set in rose gold, encircling the dial and extending to the strap and a white mother-of-pearl dial. Its shiny burgundy alligator strap adds to the allure of the watch with a pop of color.
The Limelight Gala Precious Aventurine Glass gives the impression that the wearer is looking into a starry sky with its blue aventurine dial flecked with tiny bits of copper. The romantic watch’s bezel is also wrapped in brilliant-cut diamonds that extend onto its dark blue alligator strap. This watch comes in two versions: one set with 42 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 4.74 carats, and the other featuring 62 diamonds for a total weight of 1.75 carats.
Saving the best for last, there are four Limelight Gala High-Jewellery watches. Each watch features a feminine oval-shaped dial, and in keeping with the Limelight theme, the bezels are wrapped in precious stones.
The first features a bezel and lugs set with 32 marquise-cut diamonds framing a dial that is pavéd using the snow-set technique on a dark blue satin strap.
The second piece is on a completely diamond-set bracelet, with two rows of diamonds (brilliant and marquise-cut) surrounding the snow-set diamond dial. The third is another version of the second piece, just as beautiful and bright.
Finally, the pièce de résistance is a white gold watch with an exquisite fiery black opal dial. This time, the bezel and bracelet feature marquise-cut yellow to orange sapphires and brilliant-cut rubies in one row, and 86 brilliant-cut sapphires in the other.
(Images provided by Piaget)
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