“Just as diamonds are crystallized records of conditions deep within the earth,” says master watchmaker and jeweler Piaget in its latest release, “meteorites are crystallized records of the birth of galaxies.” Accordingly, one will encounter both prominently in these three new Piaget Altiplano models we preview this week, ahead of their official release next month at SIHH 2019.
The 36mm Altiplano High Jewellery is the first ladies’ Altiplano model set with baguette-cut diamonds on both its bezel and its sunray-finished “Piaget blue” dial. Diamond baguettes serve as the hour indices at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock quarter positions. Piaget blue, which also finds a home on the dial-harmonizing leather strap, is a special shade between cobalt and midnight blue, used notably on the Altiplano anniversary models that anchored Piaget’s 2017 lineup at that year’s SIHH. Inside the white-gold case is Piaget’s manual-wind Caliber 430P, measuring a wafer-like 2.1 mm thick, a descendant of the company’s groundbreaking ultra-thin Caliber 9P. the High Jewellery model will be limited to 88 pieces. Piaget Altiplano 36mm High Jewellery with sunray blue dial

The self-winding Caliber 1203P inhabits the 40mm Altiplano in rose gold, which is distinguished by its gray meteorite dial, crisscrossed on its surface by so-called Widmanstätten patterns, natural elements found in the crystallized nickel-iron hearts of meteorites...