Extra-thin watches, a calling-card for Manufactures

In history

Pocket watch from 1907 and its calibre LeCoultre 145 © Jaeger-LeCoultre

Watch Lepine from 1927 and its calibre SVF 1925 © Audemars Piguet

Altiplano watch and its calibre 9P © Piaget

Patrimony watch and calibre 1003 © Vacheron Constantin

Patrimony Contemporaine Automatique and calibre 2450 © Vacheron Constantin

Over the past century, watch companies have rivalled in ingenuity in their quest for the infinitely thin, leading to a proliferation of movements less than 4mm high. As for the watches that house them, they are revered as models of classicism and elegance.

Christophe Roulet

It’s a story that aficionados have no doubt heard many times, but no less symbolic of developments in watchmaking since the early twentieth century. In 1903, on hearing of Edmond Jaeger’s intention to produce extra-thin watches, Jacques-David LeCoultre was determined to take up the challenge. With no further ado, he jumped on his bicycle and raced the twenty kilometres that separated the Manufacture from the nearest telephone, to call Paris. As the company’s archives record, this collaboration, and the friendship that grew between the two men, would give rise to Jaeger-LeCoultre, officially established in 1937. More importantly it was the start of a long series of outstanding creations in the history of watchmaking in general, and extra-thin watches in particular.

Creative copying

In the absence of any precise classification distinguishing between thin calibres, extra-thin watches or ultra-thin movements other than companies’ own, and let it be said very vague, terminology, a definition can be inferred from chronological developments in the field (see box). These suggest that an extra-thin hand-wound or self-winding mechanical watch without complications (i.e. indicating hours and minutes, and possibly seconds or the date) is one whose calibre does not exceed 3.5mm in height, including the barrel but excluding the hand staff. And quite evidently Jacques-David LeCoultre was not alone in his determination to create mechanical movements of unimaginably slim proportions.

Still considered the height of elegance and classicism in a watch, simple extra-thin timepieces, some hand-wound to avoid having to raise the oscillating weight, have provided over a century of inspiration and, since the 1840s, prompted some truly astounding feats of technology, first in pocket watches (see box) then, naturally, in wristwatches. LeCoultre opened fire as of 1907 with a 1.38mm high calibre for a fob watch. Audemars Piguet was quick to riposte, shaving its calibre down to 1.32mm in 1925. Since then the race to be thinnest has been played out in wristwatches, with companies rivalling in ingenuity to produce the world’s thinnest movement. Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Juvenia and Bouchet-Lassalle followed in the footsteps of Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet. They were joined more recently by Blancpain, Chopard, Frédéric Piguet and Oris.

Thinner and thinner

Some of these watches have attracted a dedicated following, fuelling their reputation as exceptional creations. Piaget can justifiably claim to have left a lasting mark on the history of extra-thin mechanical watches with movements that have become references in the field. One such feat is the 9P hand-wound calibre, just 2mm high. Created in 1957, it was reissued as a limited edition in 2007. It was followed in 1959 by the 12P calibre which, at 2.3mm high, entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s thinnest self-winding movement. Piaget has certainly honoured its credo to "always do more than is necessary" with its extra-thin range.

Vacheron Constantin has nothing to envy Piaget and its exploits as its 1003 calibre (1.64mm high) from 1955, which Jaeger-LeCoultre also developed for Audemars Piguet, remains the proud holder of the record for the thinnest mechanical movement. In Vacheron Constantin’s own words, purity, simplicity and perfection define this timepiece, which was chosen as one of 999 outstanding symbols of twentieth-century design. The 1120 calibre would follow a decade later, then the 2450 self-winding movement for the Patrimony Contemporaine, launched in 2006.

Irresistible timepieces

And then there is Jaeger-LeCoultre which has never ceased to innovate in this domain. Since its first extra-thin calibre in 1907, its movements have become slimmer and slimmer, culminating in the 608 calibre in 1982, just 1.6mm high.

Leaving aside the alembicated calculations used to measure a calibre’s height and thus declare the champion of extra-thin, it takes no great stretch of the imagination to see why the extra-thin watch is still admired for the technicity and exceptional expertise it implies, and for the understated beauty that makes it so irresistible… ■

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