SLIM TO WIN
As fashion tastes evolve, watchmakers have to keep up, and the desire for thin is in
Most watches are on the fat side A trend for big watches that started way back in the Nineties has eased off a bit but not entirely If someone drops serious coin on a watch they generally want people on the other side of the hotel bar to know But not everyone wants a watch the size of Big Ben In fact an ongoing quest for slimness is one of the toughest tests for watchmakers
While fatness is governed by personal taste thinness has to wrestle with physics A mechanical watch contains lots of small parts moving in harmony with each other and there are limitations to how much you can shrink them without compromising efficiency and durability However the watchmaking community loves a challenge
The granddaddy of modern watches is a Frenchman called JeanAntoine Lépine who was appointed clockmaker to King Louis XV in the s There were pocket watches before Lépine but the mechanisms were so bulky they were little more than portable clocks He redesigned the layout making a flatter movement similar to those used today
As Lépine’s calibre was adopted by other watchmakers the pocket watch became a musthave fashion item One person credited with making it popular was Beau Brummell famous for transforming the way people dressed in the late th and early th century The fitted waistcoat was one of his fashion contributions so a slim watch was a must
When watches moved from pocket to wrist in the early th century there was extra incentive to go slender and certain brands took pride in pushing the limits JaegerLeCoultre and Audemars Piguet took turns in breaking thinness records in the early days of wristwatches Piaget got involved in the Fifties and still makes it a badge of honour to make luxury watches in the slimmest packages possible see opposite page
In the Seventies the competition for slimness came up against the unbeatable foe of watches that didn’t require tiny cogs and springs Quartz movements don’t need much space so going slender is easy But that is cheating so mechanical watches have just carried on defiantly The battle for ultraslim mechanical watches has produced some amazing feats of engineering if you are prepared to pay more for the privilege Most watches are fat but ultraslim is a delight to behold