Piaget Polo Minute Repeater: A striking mechanism housed in a 9.3-millimeter-thick case

With the Piaget Polo Minute Repeater, Piaget brings one of the most sophisticated acoustic complications to its modern sports watch collection. The model combines a white gold case just 9.3 millimeters thick with the ultra-thin automatic Caliber 1290P and a partially open, hand-guilloché dial.

A minute repeater for the Piaget Polo

A minute repeater audibly announces the current time on demand: low tones mark the hours, a sequence of tones marks the quarter-hours, and high tones mark the remaining minutes. On the new Piaget Polo, the mechanism is activated via a slide at the 9 o’clock position. Piaget specifies a volume of 64 decibels, three harmonic overtones, and a damping factor of 2,600. The hours are chimed in G-sharp, and the minutes in A-sharp.

^{Piaget Polo Minute Repeater, detail. Photo: Piaget}

The 1290P Manufacture Caliber

The 1290P automatic caliber is developed, finished, and assembled in La Côte-aux-Fées. According to the manufacturer, the current version consists of 430 components. A platinum micro-rotor provides automatic winding; its blue PVD coating echoes the color of the dial. The movement operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers approximately 40 hours of power reserve.

Bridges with hand-drawn bevels, a guilloché mainplate, and mirror-polished hammers make the finishing a visible part of the design. The partially open dial reveals, among other things, the minute repeater regulator at four o’clock.

48 millimeters, but only 9.3 millimeters thick

The 18-karat white gold case measures 48 millimeters in diameter. For a watch with a striking mechanism, its thickness of 9.3 millimeters is remarkably slim. It is water-resistant to 30 meters. The blue calfskin strap with a triple-fold clasp comes with an additional leather strap.

Piaget produces only five numbered pieces each year. This small production run is not a one-time limitation but results from the high level of manual labor involved. A second version combines the movement with haute joaillerie: baguette-cut sapphires on the bezel and baguette- and brilliant-cut diamonds on the case frame the fully skeletonized dial.

^{Piaget Polo Minute Repeater: Construction and Sound Spiral. Image: Piaget}

Technical Specifications

• Reference: G0A51038
• Case: 18-karat white gold, 48 × 9.3 millimeters
• Movement: 1290P automatic caliber with a platinum micro-rotor
• Functions: Hours, minutes, and minute repeater
• Frequency: 3 hertz
• Power reserve: approximately 40 hours
• Water resistance: 30 meters
• Production: five numbered copies per year