A PERMITTED PEEK
Inherited from an era when time could be heard, a classic complication shifts registers as it slips into a contemporary silhouette, playfully offering a glimpse into the secrets of its musical mechanics.
When checking the time takes only seconds, the minute repeater can almost seem like a relic of another age. Yet Piaget projects this centuries-old, prestigious and subtly romantic complication into the contemporary architecture of its Polo Minute Repeater. Its traditional melody finds a new setting, resonating within a watch defined by a sporty character and graphic lines, without sacrificing any of the technical sophistication that gives it a voice.
Crafted in white gold, the 48mm case measures just 9.3mm thick and retains the collection’s signature interlocking forms. Its hand-guilloché blue gold dial strikes a different note. The radiating pattern evokes the folds of a curtain, one corner discreetly lifted to let us peek backstage at the minute repeater. The opening notably reveals the striking mechanism’s regulator at 4 o’clock, beneath a smoked blue sapphire ring, while a textured blue calfskin strap completes the composition. Entirely developed and assembled at La Côte-aux-Fées, in the hills above Neuchâtel, the automatic 1290P caliber comprises 430 components and relies on a blue PVD-treated platinum micro-rotor for winding. Its musical mechanics deliver 64dB and three harmonics, with G-sharp marking the hours and A-sharp the minutes, both in the 5th octave. The chime is activated by a slide at 9 o’clock whose downward motion required the movement’s architecture to be reworked. Five numbered pieces will be produced this year.
