BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Piaget’s 150 years old this year and it’s throwing itself a big birthday bash to celebrate. We’ve already seen the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch, but that was both super exclusive and super expensive. For something more accessible, Piaget has now released a new version of its sporty Polo Chronograph line.
The Polo came about in 1979, when all the luxury brands were issuing sporty watches to try and survive the onslaught of quartz watches, which was destroying the industry as we know it. The chronograph is probably the Polo model people gravitate to the most; there’s just something about using the buttons on a watch that people love.
This new model doesn’t rock the boat in terms of innovations, but it does deliver solid looks in the form of a 42mm x 11.2mm stainless steel case with a stainless steel bracelet and butterfly folding clasp. The case’s water resistance is 100m, meaning this isn’t just a piece to be kept on show at the poolside (where it might get nicked).
The dial is clean and simple, and it has a two-register chronograph with a time and a date window. Despite being simple in appearance, this is a 12-hour chronograph, and the subdials seem large enough to be fairly readable; as I don’t have the piece in front of me, I can only guess. The green colour in this dial is subtle indeed; to my eyes, it looks closer to grey than a true vibrant green that we’ve seen on lots of watches recently. Still, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good, and I imagine the subtlety of the colour makes matching it with an outfit a little easier.
Inside the watch is the self-winding calibre 1160P. Made by ValFleurier, this movement is also known as the Cartier 1904-CH MC calibre when it’s in their pieces. It comes with a 48-hour power reserve and a 4Hz beat rate. The chronograph is a column wheel, which means it’s much smoother to operate than a traditional cam chronograph. The movement also has some good-looking finishing, but again, I’d need to see it up close to comment further.
Thankfully, this is one new model that isn’t a limited edition release like everything seems to be these days. It’s priced at $20,400 before taxes.
