Introduced at SIHH 2008, the Piaget Emperador Tourbillon Skeleton has the world’s thinnest flying tourbillon-equipped movement. Presented in what Piaget calls a “reverse tonneau” case (rectangle), the Emperador Tourbillon Skeleton is powered by the Piaget 600S manufacture movement that measures a mere 3.5 mm thick.

Piaget’s website says the Emperador Tourbillon is “one of the greatest masterpieces ever created in the workshops in La Côte-aux-Fées” and I wholeheartedly agree — it is exquisite. It is one of the best-looking rectangle-shaped watches I’ve ever tried on.

The 18K rose gold case measures 32 x 41 mm and is only 9.6 mm thick. The bezel and lugs are fully polished, and the case flanks are brushed providing a nice contrast. The in-house movement in hand-wound and runs at 21,600 vph (3Hz), consists of 177 components, and has a power reserve of 40-hours. There is no dial, instead, all you see is the finely finished main plate and bridges.

Bridges circular-grained, drawn and beveled by hand, carriage beveled and drawn by hand, guilloché sunburst motif, mainplate circular-grained by hand. Gold hands display hours and minutes, with no markers. At 6 o’clock a gold hand indicates the remaining power reserve. At 12 o’clock the titanium tourbillon cage rotates once every minute, which effectively indicates the seconds.

Sapphire crystals front and back allow the wearer to enjoy the movement from either side. The watch is fitted with a brown alligator strap with a folding 18K rose gold clasp. Water-resistance is 30 meters. Each piece is individually numbered. It is also available in white gold, or with a diamond bezel. (Ref. G0A29109)