Piaget releases new Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase in signature blue colours
Nina Scally- The new Piaget Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase is a modern, sporty design with a movement typically used for dress watches.
- It marks the first time that Piaget uses titanium for the Polo’s exterior, sitting at an impressive 9.8mm depth.
- The moonphase complication, combined with a flying tourbillon, measures an overall depth of 4mm and now sports Piaget’s signature blue colour.
The Piaget Polo has changed considerably since its initial 1979 launch. In 2016, it had a rather drastic makeover, adopting influences from the Gérald Genta-defined golden era in sports watch design. For its 150th anniversary last year, however, the company revisited the chic and opulent style of the original Polo with an integrated design and trademark gadroons in the Polo 79. It returned in the full-gold attire of the 1970s quartz watch but with an ultra-slim automatic movement.
Today, ultra-thin movements are a solid guarantee no matter where you look in the brand’s current Polo offerings. Take, for example, the more contemporary-looking green and rose gold Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin, released back in 2023. Given the success of that model and other impressively thin designs like the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, which holds the title of the world’s thinnest tourbillon, it seems only natural that the brand would want to exhibit its talents in new ways. So, here is the new Piaget Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase, now sporting the brand’s signature blue colour.
The most impressive thing about the new Polo Flying Tourbillon is its applaudable 9.8mm thinness, which extends on the inaugural 600P movement (once holding the record of the thinnest tourbillon). The P642P gains just 0.55mm in thickness to compensate for the addition of the moonphase complication. Overall, it retains a mere 4mm depth and promises an accuracy superior to many other moonphase complications on the market. It takes 122 years to build up a discrepancy between the calibre’s accuracy and the natural Moon’s cycle.
Instantly familiar is the cushion shape of the case. The Polo has a slimness and an elegance that perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the steel sports watch craze, yet the brand’s use of titanium is much less familiar. In fact, the only clue pointing to the use of titanium in a Polo watch can be traced back to last year’s bold and sportier-looking Polo Skeleton Ceramic, which featured an entire black brushed ceramic case built around a central titanium container to protect the movement. Given its merits in the steel sports watch sphere, it’s surprising that Piaget hasn’t experimented with titanium much sooner for its Polo designs.
The case is far from stodgy, but does span a 44mm diameter. However, its broadness is saved by the Polo’s shorter lugs, which will undoubtedly give the watch a more manageable feel. The sides have nice, blue PVD-coated inserts embellished with gadroons that call to mind the style of Piaget’s original 1979 release. These coloured flanks, enhanced by sporty, hollowed-out sections, also match the horizontally ridged dial. Given the complications and the thinness of this watch, it’s reassuring that Piaget confirms a solid 100-meter water-resistance rating, too. The Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase is finished on a sporty blue rubber strap with a push-button folding clasp in titanium but also comes with an additional blue alligator leather strap.
Of course, this new blue Flying Tourbillon is not smashing any new records. Its case sits at a modest depth of 9.8mm, which is more than sufficient for slipping under a cuff. More to the point, it’s nice to see Piaget doing what it does best, creating exceptionally well-built complication watches without competing with rivals Bulgari and Richard Mille on the thinness scale.
The blue slatted dial of the new Polo Flying Tourbillon presents two complications across its surface: the tourbillon, doubling up as a running seconds indicator, sitting in the Northern Hemisphere, and the moonphase in the Southern. Both complications are framed in blue and, set against a cushion-shaped openworked section, echoing the shape of the case. For the sake of simple timekeeping, the Super-LumiNova treatment on the surface of the hour and minute hands allows for all other details to be stripped away by night.
The P642P movement was first seen in the 2012 Gouverneur Tourbillon. It captures everything that Piaget stands for – haute horlogerie, considered design, and slimness. Its asymmetrical “P” shape is a horological feat in and of itself, since the brand would have had to consider balance and weight very carefully to prevent deviations to its chronometric rate.
Cleverly, such balance is achieved, and the movement is hand-finished with blued screws and a circular-grained mainplate. Sadly, the back of the case hides most of this movement, and I can only think that Piaget wanted to limit how much wrist could be seen through the front of the watch. Instead, a simple cut-out on the back of the case revealing the tourbillon mechanism is all we get. The 40 hours of power reserve and frequency of 21,600vph feel somewhat basic for a movement that shows mechanical prowess in so many other areas. Yet, the fact that its moonphase can run accurately for 122 years until an entire day’s gap would exist indeed makes up for it, as does its 4mm thinness.
Piaget Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase price and availability
The Piaget Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase is a limited edition of 88 pieces. Price: US$99,000 (excl. sales tax), A$168,000 (incl. GST)
| Brand | Piaget |
| Model | Polo Flying Tourbillon Moonphase |
| Reference Number | G0A49080 |
| Case Dimensions | 44mm (D) x 9.8mm (T) |
| Case Material | Titanium |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front, tourbillon exhibition window in sapphire at back |
| Dial | Blue with sapphire segments |
| Strap | Blue rubber strap with titanium folding clasp Additional blue alligator leather strap |
| Movement | P642P, in house, manual-winding |
| Power Reserve | 40 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds on flying tourbillon, moonphase |
| Availability | Limited edition of 88 pieces |
| Price | US$99,000 (excl. sales tax) A$168,000 (incl. GST) |