Friday, January 30, 2015

Top 7 Thinnest Ultra Thin Mechanical Watches

It looks like ultra thin is still very much in vogue, and given our love of listicles these days, we thought we'd do one based on ultra thin watches. However, we're not going to be lazy like some websites out there and just give you a random selection of so-called ultra thin watches just because they looked thin or might have the terms "ultra" and "thin" in the name of the watch. No. The Tarts readers expect more. Hence the reason why even though we really wanted to do a top 10, we couldn't find 10 watches that fit the below criteria.

So what was our criteria for choosing the ultra thin watches for this list? Well, they all have to be powered by a mechanical movement, be Swiss or German made, and are simple, time only watches with the only complication being that it's thin. How thin is thin, you ask? we needed to draw the line somewhere, so we chose 6mm as a limit for the thickness of the watch case. Granted, had we raised it to 7mm, we might have found 10 watches for a proper top 10 list, but then that's just being too all-inclusive isn't it?? and 7mm?? That's not ultra thin.


Here we go, starting from the *ahem* thickest:

A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin - 5.9mm

The "thickest" watch on this list is also the only watch from Germany.


Montblanc Heritage Chronométrie Ultra Slim - 5.8mm

The only watch on the list that uses an outsourced, albeit very reliable movement, and the only piece with a pricing in the four figures. Low four figures, mind you... (the steel version that is. below image is obviously of the gold variety...)



Breguet Classique ultra thin - 5.4mm

Probably the most classical looking watch of the bunch. Featuring prominent Breguet design cues such as the hands and the guilloche dial



Bvlgari Octo Finissimo - 5.0mm

The only watch on this list featuring a running seconds hand. YOu gotta give them that. It takes up additional height to have an extra subdial with an additional hand. This is also the only watch that features a complex case (ie, not round).




Vacheron Constantin Historique 1955 - 4.1mm

It wasn't that long ago this Vacheron held the title for the thinnest mechanical watch in the world. How quickly times change and records tumble!



Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin 1907 - 4.05mm

To show how quickly things change, JLC barely held the title for the thinnest mechanical watch (less than a year).




Piaget Altiplano 900P 3.65mm

Still the thinnest at the moment. I know I wondered whether it was possible to get any thinner. I didn't think it was. However, sources close to the watch industry suggests this record may be broken sooner than we think...


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