Novelties
Piaget Polo Minute Repeater: A striking mechanism housed in a 9.3-millimeter-thick case
Piaget introduces the minute repeater to the Polo collection: white gold, 9.3 millimeters thick, Caliber 1290P, and only five watches per year.
At a Glance
- Piaget introduces the minute repeater to the Polo collection: white gold, 9.3 millimeters thick, Caliber 1290P, and only five watches per year.
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
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