The Piaget Rectangle à l’Ancienne was inspired by a Piaget timepiece from 1993. It is presented in a beautiful 31 mm x 46 mm 18K white gold rectangle shaped case with soft edges and a curved profile. This example (one of Piaget’s longest-tenured employee’s personal watch) has transferred Roman numerals, as opposed to applied baton markers on the current models, and is no longer in production.

Equipped with Piaget’s 560P/561P self-winding mechanical movement, the Rectangle à l’Ancienne features a power reserve indicator (at 6 o’clock), a panoramic date indicator (at 6 o’clock) and a very cool retrograde 30-second indicator (at 12 o’clock).

The round, thin in-house caliber is based on Piaget’s legendary 500P movement; it has a maximum power reserve of 41-hours, with 31 jewels, 267 components and a frequency of 21,600 vph (3Hz). Finishing includes all the signature haute horology features: beveled bridges, blued screws, circular Côtes de Genève decorations and a circular-grained mainplate.

The retrograde seconds indicator is incredible to watch, it sweeps from left to right in 30 seconds and then instantly jumps back in a fraction of a second, at about 38 mph, and then restarts again (see the video below). Creating this complex function was no easy task for the master watchmakers at Piaget’s movement manufacture in La Côte-aux-Fées (situated in the Swiss Jura mountains). Over 24-months was spent developing this movement, with much focus on the shock-absorption for the seconds hand, which performs its magic 2,880 times per day.