Eleven Things To Know – Paris Men’s Fashion Week
A curated look at menswear’s latest trends.
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Dior
So Travis Scott’s collaboration with Dior was a riot — literally. The French fashion house unveiled the collaboration on Friday in front of 500 guests at its first physical men’s runway show in 18 months. The event drew a large crowd outside, which surged forward and knocked over a security barrier when the singer left the venue, forcing him to retreat back inside — before reemerging to commune with his fans in an impromptu street mosh pit. Backstage after the show, the situation was equally chaotic, as photographers jostled for a shot of the rapper with Dior’s artistic director for men’s wear Kim Jones, who vainly pleaded for social distancing.
It was the first major celebrity fashion moment in Paris since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and one befitting Scott’s status as a pop cultural icon. “He’s a cultural phenomenon, and culture is something that the young generation want to associate with, especially when they’ve been away from everything,” Jones said. After three seasons of online shows, each with a different artist as guest collaborator, his decision to link up with a musician could not have come at a better time. “It gets people excited. Dior’s done particularly well in the last year. Everywhere you go, there’s a queue outside the store. We’ve been selling all sorts of things to all sorts of people, and I just want to continue to grow that message,” the designer explained.
It’s the first time Dior has designed a full collection with a musician, and Jones made sure the house’s codes were front and centre, making tailoring — and particularly his signature Oblique jacket — the backbone of the lineup, although flared pants added a ’70s twist to the look. Scott brought in further psychedelic influences, from the sun-bleached pastels and acid green of the colour palette, to the giant mushrooms and cacti dotting the desert-like set, which symbolized the performer’s home state of Texas and his creative collective Cactus Jack.
“The cactus is one of my enduring inspirational plants,” said Scott, adding that his birth name is Jacques and his mother calls him Baby Jack. “It’s a label and a movement, an idea and an inspiration that we try to instil and keep moving, trying to help the world with new design and inspirational experiences.” Naturally, he provided the throbbing show soundtrack, including a new track called “Lost Forever,” cowritten with James Blake and Westside Gunn.
Jones noted that Christian Dior visited Texas on his first trip to the U.S. in 1947. “We’ve basically done the reverse journey via Travis,” he remarked. Western-style touches included python prints, a dusty suede jacket and a double Saddle bag with a stirrup handle. Graphics ranged from Cactus Jack’s signature hand-drawn graphics to a new version of the Dior Oblique logo spelling out the word “Jack.” It turns out Bernard Arnault, head of Dior’s parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, personally OK’d the irreverent take on one of his most valuable pieces of intellectual property. “I knew he’d love it or hate it, and he got it completely,” Jones said. “He likes to see energy and fun. He’s seen everything in the world. I always enjoy spending time with Mr. Arnault because of his eye. He knows exactly what he likes and he knows exactly what works — that’s why he’s Mr. Arnault.”
It’s easy to see why the luxury mogul would roll out the red carpet for Scott, who has collaborations with brands including Nike, Playstation, Epic Games and Dover Street Market under his belt. The musician’s collaboration with McDonald’s last year resulted in meat shortages and helped to drive up the fast food giant’s shares. Online chatter around the Cactus Jack Dior collection homed in on the new skate-inspired sneakers, which Dior is no doubt hoping will match the success of its Air Jordan trainers released last year. No matter what the commercial results, the amount of brand heat generated by Friday’s event was priceless. Jones will be tracking another barometer of success. “It’ll be interesting to see how many young kids you see wearing suits now after this, because he’s a big influence. I don’t like doing things for hype, I like doing things for exciting the consumer,” he said. – Joelle Diedrich.
Hermès
Véronique Nichanian delivered an upbeat collection for spring, defying the gloomy weather — and sprinkle of rain — with a lively offer for her first runway show since the onset of the pandemic. She continued to push forward with her hybrid, indoor-outdoor thrust, proposing hooded parkas, two-toned jackets with patches of technical fabrics and leather overshirts. In a burst of optimism, a bold, thickly knit sweater came in gradations of tangerine and pink, while a button-up cardigan faded from grey to a bright turquoise. “It aims to encourage people to get out and roam,” Nichanian said of the lineup, as quoted in the show notes.
As the fashion world rushes to meet consumers stepping back into society, many are betting on louder, hyped-up propositions — club themes and psychedelic motifs abound. But then there’s Nichanian, who is steadily building a fresh repertoire for younger classes of luxury consumers — a bit more discreet, for sure, but nonetheless interesting. The label’s playful side was relayed through the details, like the perforation delineating the house’s Quadriga horsehead motif on a shirt, zig-zag stitching — the kind you might see on a boat sail — running sideways on a windbreaker, and the zip-up blouson in a technical fabric, printed like a traditional silk scarf. In an understated nod to youth culture, the bottom of the Bolide bag was in the shape of a skateboard. A new silhouette emerged, too, drawing on cropped jackets and high-water trousers, worn with canvas high-top sneakers, successfully channelling the famous nonchalant French attitude. Accessories included belts made of rope or technical knits, with hook clasps and “H” buckles, sandals and suede goatskin ankle boots, as well as bags in military canvas. The house teamed for the third time with director Cyril Teste, who continued to bring fresh ideas to the evolving craft of fashion presentations.
The partnership has proven successful for capturing the mood, relaying the excitement of a show through a screen when in-person events were not possible, and this time, offering a view on details that would be lost in a traditional show, thanks to movie theatre-sized screens alongside the runway. The show was held outdoors in the courtyard of a favourite Hermès show venue, France’s Mobilier National building, home to the state-owned furniture.
Perched on boxy seats, the audience donned black rain capes by the label Rains. “Unforeseen events stimulate creativity,” Nichanian said. “I had to reinvent my approach to designing and presenting clothes.” Reinvention has indeed been a buzzword during this choppy period, and it’s clear the historic house approaches the concept with great care. But the role of experience feels equally relevant, especially when considering that Nichanian’s tenure stretches back to 1988, serving as a reminder that with disruption also comes the opportunity for the well versed to shine. — Mimosa Spencer
Louis Vuitton
‘Tis the season of the mega-collaboration.
Just hours after Dior revealed it was teaming up with Travis Scott on its spring 2022 men’s collection, Louis Vuitton dropped another bombshell during Paris Fashion Week: The French luxury brand has partnered with Nike on new versions of its iconic Air Force 1 sneakers.
The shoes, which come in 21 colourways, were unveiled on Thursday as part of Virgil Abloh’s men’s collection for Vuitton, but additional details were scarce. Asked whether they would be made available for sale, the house merely said: “Stay tuned for more details.”
The launch marks a full-circle moment in hip-hop culture. Abloh, who has a highly successful collaboration with Nike through his Off-White label, was inspired by the cover of the 1988 album “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. It shows E-Z Rock wearing a Nike Air Force 1 basketball trainer altered with a swoosh adorned in the Louis Vuitton monogram.
“The cover embodied the hip-hop community’s early practice of hacking together high fashion and sportswear, sidelining diverging brands with equal reverence. A cultural symbol in its own right, today the Nike Air Force 1 serves as an objet d’art emblematic of self-generated subcultural provenance,” Vuitton said in its collection notes.
Or as Outfitgrid founder Dennis Todisco commented on Instagram: “When the fake becomes real.”
For Abloh, the U.S.-born son of Ghanaian immigrants, it’s yet another chapter in a narrative that has seen him rise from outsider to kingmaker. He acknowledged as much in a short speech to his team, gathered in a cinema in Paris for the premiere of his collection film, titled “Amen Break” after a famous drum sample.
“Fashion can make you feel like things are impossible. We’re a part of a team that can make people feel a specific way. And through this body of work that we’re about to see on the screen, we deconstruct and dissolve and melt away this idea that fashion is elitist, or fashion is for only a select few,” he said.
Indeed, Abloh has blown open the gates of luxury to a whole new category of participant, from the kids who line up for his sneaker drops to the talent that takes part in his shows.
Musicians GZA, Goldie, Saul Williams, Lupe Fiasco and Shabaka Hutchings appear in the film alongside “Les Misérables” actor Issa Perica, in a storyline inspired by the classic Japanese kung fu film “Lone Wolf and Cub.” Chess is a sub-plot, inspired by the cover of GZA’s seminal album “Liquid Swords,” as well as Vuitton’s signature Damier motif.
In fashion terms, the theme translated into a plethora of check motifs, on items ranging from luxed-up track suits to tailored suit jackets paired with floor-length skirts, in a nod to traditional garments ranging from kilts to kendo uniforms. Checkered bodysuits served as an underpinning for a fuchsia suit, a silver foil jacket and pants, and sober black outfits inspired by martial arts garb.
The central idea was a confrontation between tailoring and trackpants, which materialized into a human chess game — though there was ultimately no winner. “I’m not choosing between one or the other. My signature is both,” Abloh said, noting that the logo of the film contains a yin-yang emblem. “That symbol fits perfectly in my canon.”
Hence the leap between his new-gen suits — think short, belted jacket and pooling pants — and the raver elements in the collection, including airbrushed monogram-embossed leather jackets, and an outfit pieced together from rainbow-coloured flyers printed on leather, featuring the logo of Goldie’s record label Metalheadz.
Abloh said he wasn’t playing along traditional gender lines either. “We have straight-up A-line skirts. It’s liberating in 2021,” he said, pointing to a black-and-white rain jacket worn over a hoop skirt. The designer considers it as the natural evolution of a year that has seen social issues from Black Lives Matter to trans rights take centre stage.
“The next thing in fashion isn’t in fashion. It’s in people, it’s in the atmosphere, it’s in the streets, it’s in the socio-political,” he said. “Decision, gender, diversity: those aren’t even hot topics. That’s top line. That’s already been established. Now, it’s developing men’s wear into showing the freedom that can be.”
Now on his seventh collection for the house, Abloh feels increasingly legitimate in delivering his point of view. “I’m older, so I don’t feel the fear of being young and trying to stake a claim or aim high,” he said. Yet the striver in him is never far below the surface: by bringing the bootleg back to the source, he’s scored yet another win for the culture. — Joelle Diedrich.
Loewe
Growing up in Northern Ireland, Jonathan Anderson remembers going out to the clubs on Friday night, which involved “lots of aftershave” and experimenting with different kinds of fashions. He channelled that anything-goes, hedonistic spirit into his spring men’s collection for Loewe, which goes from handsome tailored coats in the Spanish house’s Anagram logo or glossy cactus leather to what he described as “full disco ball.” Cue the show video, which depicts a young man in a tinsel-fringed tank and shorts dancing with abandon in a nightclub in Marseille, laser beams slicing the air. Other revellers showed up in sequined, zebra-motif shorts and tops, or neon knits layered up like glow-stick bracelets. “It’s about dressing outside of your comfort zone, or dressing for imaginary or real events,” Anderson explained in a Zoom call. “It’s about losing yourself in a crowd.”
In addition to the video, with voiceover musings from Anderson, Loewe published two sumptuous hardcover books: one featuring the hoodlum paintings and grimy, violence-tinged photos of German artist Florian Krewer; the other photos by David Sims of street-cast characters hanging around a basketball court, or playing with pink bubble wrap in a studio. Also included in the designer’s latest “collection in a box” were art posters, luminescent bedroom ceiling stars and a snap bracelet. Despite that avalanche of content, some of it disquieting, and Anderson’s deep thoughts about our nearly post-COVID-19 world, what came across in the collection was spontaneity and the rush of fashion experimentation.
Like a teenage Anderson prepping for a big night out, one can imagine a daring Loewe customer tickled to try out a leather parka with portholes at the knee; a tiered top of knotted and draped satin, or a ribbed cotton tank and matching shorts in a beach-y print. One of the most striking — and bonkers — garments in the collection is a lean Crombie coat with a convex shield of hammered metal sewn into the back. Anderson loves that it “distorts the silhouette” while at the same time reminding him of the funhouse mirrors at a local carnival. Boys, they wanna have fun, too. — Miles Socha
Jil Sander
“It’s about the person, rather than the uniform,” said Luke Meier, discussing the men’s spring 2022 collection he codesigned with his wife Lucie. It was presented as part of Paris Men’s Fashion Week with a video filmed at a shabby, dated Milanese hotel.
Luke Meier, who is Canadian, looked back at his years in New York City when he was designing for Supreme. “When I moved there, I discovered that guys had the best kind of style; they were mixing and matching things, experimenting with garments in their wardrobe, in a way [that] felt sophisticated and effortless,” he explained during a meeting at the Jil Sander showroom in Milan. The collection felt more relaxed and in sync with the current times than ever. The designers experimented with colours, shapes and patterns in a way that felt chic, but with humour and an effortless cool. Sartorial influences merged with utilitarian and streetwear influences, while more eccentric touches included silk tops with a fur-like look and jewellery details.
The lineup included suits in pastel tones cut in precise, yet relaxed silhouettes; a cheetah-printed furry vest was layered under a hooded lightweight coat; ribbed cardigans with leather-covered buttons were paired with polo shirts, while colour-blocked vests with a tactile feel came off as arty. Vintage graphics appearing on the windows of local delis in New York were introduced in the collection through the patches peppering baggy pants, the artisanal intarsia and embroideries of knitted pieces, as well as via allover prints on flight suits. With this spring effort, Lucie and Luke Meier unveiled a new side of their multifaceted creativity, one light-heartened and young. — Alessandra Turra
Paul Smith
Don’t read too much into the “outdoor exploration” theme Paul Smith assigned to his sprightly spring men’s wear collection. “It’s not about hunting, shooting and fishing. It’s more about, ‘At last we’re out!’” he said, expressing that universal yearning for fresh air and open spaces after extended periods of sheltering in place. Tourists of yore — including the era of leisure suits — came to mind viewing the shirt jackets, blousons and safari styles matched to Bermudas or pleated pants, and accessorized with sun hats and cross-body bags.
In fact, Smith was just showing that a suit can now be composed of many different elements. He coined the term “new working wardrobe” for tailored items done in a range of fine Italian fabrics, colour unifying the top and bottom pieces. And my, what colours! Smith has a vacation home in Lucca, Italy, and he borrowed the shades of Tuscan terracotta, the Mediterranean sky and those dramatic summer sunsets, giving his lineup a summery spirit. Bold sunflower prints looked great on camp shirts.
When Smith started out in men’s wear, stripes for men came in navy and white, burgundy and white and not much else. He’s pioneered multicoloured stripes and they looked terrific here as a snug scuba top or a slouchy sweater with the ease of a sweatshirt. The designer also employed stripes from vintage tents for a collaboration on nylon bags with Japanese luggage-maker Porter. Smith’s creative video had models whisking across an indoor runway set consisting of an undulating ceiling and a speckled floor resembling a vintage Formica kitchen table. But do take these smart and cheerful clothes out for a stroll. — Miles Socha
Casablanca
It’s been a tough year for globetrotters like Charaf Tajer. The Casablanca designer dedicated his spring collection to a friend in Japan, a country he’s visited 26 times by his count. “Every time I go, it’s more and more impressive to me. Japan for me is almost like school; I learn so much,” he raved. “The way they execute things, the way they are passionate about everything. So I wanted to pay homage to this place that I miss and I love so much.” He titled the coed collection “Masao San” after his old pal, a waiter with a unique sense of style. “He’s really a phenomenal person,” Tajer explained. “He inspired me on so many levels.” The film alternated between the graphic aesthetic of ‘90s Japanese consumer electronics ads, and elements of ‘80s Memphis design set against a pastel backdrop. “I’m having a baby in September and I think that inspired me indirectly. We were designing and we noticed that everything came out in a baby palette,” Tajer said. The combination of the brand’s signature colour gradients with Memphisstyle wavy lines made for a surefire dopamine boost.
There’s something naively enthusiastic about Tajer’s embrace of different cultures that’s reflected in his trademark souvenir jackets, which this season were embroidered with shell motifs or a rendering of Mount Fuji. From there, he bounced off in several directions.
The designer offered suit jackets with squiggly lapels, and a fresh take on the Casablanca monogram in a zig-zag pattern — a teaser for his upcoming collaboration with table tennis gear-maker Butterfly. To celebrate the reveal, he hosted a cocktail at the Ritz hotel, where a pingpong table was set up near a grand piano in a reception room.
In the garden, Alton Mason, modelling a short-sleeved zippered jacket and white pants, mingled with guests including Ella Emhoff and her boyfriend Sam Hine, and “Emily in Paris” stars Ashley Park and Samuel Arnold. Tajer had initially planned to stage a physical runway show, but said too many guests were still unable to travel to France. “I prefer to come back when it’s time to do the shows in the right way,” he said. No doubt, his colourful vision will be even more of a tonic in 3D. — Joelle Diderich
Burberry
Riccardo Tisci is feeling the heat — of summer, dancing in the desert and outdoor raves. His collection, filled with spare shapes, sleeveless silhouettes and lots of graphic patterns, was a tribute to the outdoors, post-lockdown freedom and a new generation of customers that wants to wear Burberry in the heat — as well as in the cold and rain.
Tisci said he’s been looking at who’s buying from the brand, and said the new, younger customer is spending on sporty, featherlight hoodie jackets, sneakers, jersey pieces and swimwear. “They want summer from Burberry,” he said in an interview. “So it’s a playful wardrobe — deconstructed classics for summer.”
He lopped the sleeves off trenches, tops and hoodies; did away with collars and lightened up tailored pieces to great effect. Female models wore itsy bitsy bathing suits — and they were certainly well-dressed for the weather on set. The show was shot against a background reminiscent of “Mad Max” films at Royal Victoria Dock in East London. There were mountains, acres of sand and a little zone off to the side where Burberry-clad ravers moved to an electronic soundtrack from the English music project Shpongle.
Boxy tops — a personal favourite of Tisci’s — were made for moving, dancing and keeping cool. They were sleeveless, too, and some had geometric patterns at the front. There was lots of leather — harness tops and sleeveless bomber jackets with rib-knit trims and studded straps — although they might begin to feel a little sweaty in the desert sun. In addition to the chic, stringy bathing suits, Tisci’s women wore slip dresses and a sequin-covered trench that glittered oasis-like against the sand.
It is clear that three national lockdowns, and ongoing social and travel restrictions in the U.K., have been getting under Tisci’s skin. “To be in a big open space! To be able to scream! I think a lot of people — and especially teenagers and people in their 20s — are all feeling the same way,” he said. It’s no wonder he called the show “Universal Passport.” The Brits — no matter how old or young — are desperate to get the heck out, socialize, travel abroad — and shout. — Samantha Conti
GmbH
Diversity has always been at the root of the GmbH label, with founders Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Isik mining their multicultural backgrounds with strongly autobiographical collections. This season, the duo turned the tables with a lineup that riffed on bourgeois tropes and WASP culture. “We wanted to shift the conversation. Instead of always focusing on our own Blackness or brown-ness — being the ‘other’ — we wanted to talk about whiteness,” Huseby explained. “We definitely wanted to create a conversation that might make some people uncomfortable.” The collection, titled “White Noise,” is a wry comment on the ruling class, viewing yuppie staples like jodhpurs, polo shirts and riding boots through a queer lens. Varsity vests were ruched to expose the midriff, while Western shirts came tied at the waist to show off silver belly chains. A striped dress shirt, meanwhile, was inset with panels of corset lacing. The designers reprised the shawl constructions they introduced last season, but gave them a lighter spin in fabrics like denim, or baby pink and blue fake fur, paired with shredded jeans. They were inspired by scenes in the documentary “Paris Is Burning,” showing Black and Latino ballroom dancers competing in bougie Town and Country outfits, as well as the way music stars in the ‘90s were appropriating and subverting white culture.
“Fashion is a kind of drag, so no matter what you wear, you’re dressing up for a role, even if you’re subconscious about it,” Huseby said. In contrast with most brands’ reluctance to comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, GmbH has collaborated with Palestinian fashion label Trashy Clothing on a halter top that reads: “Free Palestine.” Proceeds will benefit charities including Al Qaws, the oldest official Palestinian LGBTQ organization. Despite the risk of backlash, Isik, a German of Turkish descent, believes fashion needs to address political issues.
“Ten years ago, pre-identity age, my graduate collection was about Islamophobia. The collection was called I Don’t Have Any Weapons, and I was barely allowed to defend my thesis at the university. And now we’re here, and we are in the positions that we are,” he said. “We have to continue being brave and talking about these things.” Huseby and Isik were recently named creative directors of Italian brand Trussardi, which touted their “socially engaged perspective.” This collection proved they won’t be toning it down to court mainstream acceptance. — Joelle Diderich
Officine Générale
Celebrating the return of Parisians to the streets of their beloved capital, Pierre Mahéo took to the runway with a coed lineup that channelled the city’s nonchalant elegance and its current festive mood. The venue was a spacious historic building in the heart of the Marais district, hollowed out for renovations, with space to mingle — and reunite. “I wanted to get back to a fashion show without any further delay,” the designer wrote in a note to guests. He went on to explain how the prolonged period grounded at home had allowed for deep exploration of his Parisian roots. This yielded a lineup of suits and trouser-jacket combinations for spring, with plenty of options for anyone interested in riding the shorts-for-the-office trend. Plying monochromic looks, Mahéo offered them in navy, olive green, greys, ivory and an eye-catching lavender. He also wove in an extra soft, recycled denim, zip-up shirts and hoodies that edged over to the realm of outerwear, as well as leather bomber jackets, some tie-dye and a few dresses — one printed with paisleys. Mahéo has built his label on a contemporary approach to tailoring, working in extra ease without compromising the refinement intended by such silhouettes. Mastering the slouchy trouser, he worked in straighter cuts from the knee down this season, and included baggy, skater-style pants in a lightweight wool for summer. “Our pants business has been on fire for the past year and a half,” he said after the show, still breathless from the emotion of the first runway presentation in 16 months. He mentioned he’s off to New York shortly. The label plans to open a store in the city, kicking off an expansion drive backed by new investors. It might be just in time for the big migration back to work. For anyone feeling apprehensive about the return to office life, Mahéo’s got some good ideas about what our uniform should be. Dress like a Parisian. — Mimosa Spencer
Dunhill
Mark Weston, who took a few cues from Coco Chanel, swapped nylon for silk faille and worked a playful colour palette inspired by the Polaroids of artist Ellen Carey, described this collection as a marriage of “extravagance — and practicality.” He was spot on, but he forgot to add one word: fun. This latest outing had all the whimsy and joy that Weston has quietly been stitching into his collections for the brand, which until just a few years ago was best known for its traditional tailored suits, tuxedos and luxe leather accessories, made for boardrooms, country clubs and corner offices.
Not any more: Weston may have a reverence for Dunhill’s past as a posh tailor, but he’s also been eager to dress a new clientele for lives that have nothing to do with mahogany desks and black tie fundraisers. His looser shapes, zingy colour palette (see the striped Dr. Who scarf from the fall 2021 collection) and nonchalant chic have been attracting customers from all sorts of orbits, including Kanye West, while in China, female celebrities like Chris Lee, Ni Ni and Song Zu’er have been wearing the men’s styles. Weston seemed to be having even more fun with the latest collection, making baseball caps — in pink, no less — out of silk faille fabric; roomy cardigans with shiny buttons that would have made Coco smile, or even fattening up seersucker stripes for a jacket that looked as if it were made from thick crinkly ribbons. There was a practical, utility side, too, in the form of modular parkas with zips and hi-viz pops of colour; the (now signature) split hem trousers done in nylon; electric bright cummerbunds (a nod to Dunhill’s tuxedo credentials) that doubled as crossbody bags, and — of course — a lineup of lovely tailored suits. Ellen Carey’s colorful psychedelic Polariod smears — made by pulling apart the photo papers — provided inspiration for prints on raw-edged silk tops, and for an upbeat palette of pastels and jewel tones designed for a good time, although not in the board room. — Samantha Conti
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Omega Reveals a New Speedmaster Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics
Your first look at the new Speedmaster Chronoscope, designed in the colour theme of the Paris Olympics.
The starters are on the blocks, and with less than 100 days to go until the Paris 2024 Olympics, luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega was bound to release something spectacular to mark its bragging rights as the official timekeeper for the Summer Games. Enter the new 43mm Speedmaster Chronoscope, available in new colourways—gold, black, and white—in line with the colour theme of the Olympic Games in Paris this July.
So, what do we get in this nicely-wrapped, Olympics-inspired package? Technically, there are four new podium-worthy iterations of the iconic Speedmaster.
The new versions present handsomely in stainless steel or 18K Moonshine Gold—the brand’s proprietary yellow gold known for its enduring shine. The steel version has an anodised aluminium bezel and a stainless steel bracelet or vintage-inspired perforated leather strap. The Moonshine Gold iteration boasts a ceramic bezel; it will most likely appease Speedy collectors, particularly those with an affinity for Omega’s long-standing role as stewards of the Olympic Games.
Notably, each watch bears an attractive white opaline dial; the background to three dark grey timing scales in a 1940s “snail” design. Of course, this Speedmaster Chronoscope is special in its own right. For the most part, the overall look of the Speedmaster has remained true to its 1957 origins. This Speedmaster, however, adopts Omega’s Chronoscope design from 2021, including the storied tachymeter scale, along with a telemeter, and pulsometer scale—essentially, three different measurements on the wrist.
While the technical nature of this timepiece won’t interest some, others will revel in its theatrics. Turn over each timepiece, and instead of a transparent crystal caseback, there is a stamped medallion featuring a mirror-polished Paris 2024 logo, along with “Paris 2024” and the Olympic Rings—a subtle nod to this year’s games.
Powering this Olympiad offering—and ensuring the greatest level of accuracy—is the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9908 and 9909, certified by METAS.
A Speedmaster to commemorate the Olympic Games was as sure a bet as Mondo Deplantis winning gold in the men’s pole vault—especially after Omega revealed its Olympic-edition Seamaster Diver 300m “Paris 2024” last year—but they delivered a great addition to the legacy collection, without gimmickry.
However, the all-gold Speedmaster is 85K at the top end of the scale, which is a lot of money for a watch of this stature. By comparison, the immaculate Speedmaster Moonshine gold with a sun-brushed green PVD “step” dial is 15K cheaper, albeit without the Chronoscope complications.
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The Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope in stainless steel with a leather strap is priced at $15,725; stainless steel with steel bracelet at $16,275; 18k Moonshine Gold on leather strap $54,325; and 18k Moonshine Gold with matching gold bracelet $85,350, available at Omega boutiques now.
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Here’s What Goes Into Making Jay-Z’s $1,800 Champagne
We put Armand de Brignac Blanc de Noirs Assemblage No. 4 under the microsope.
In our quest to locate the most exclusive and exciting wines for our readers, we usually ask the question, “How many bottles of this were made?” Often, we get a general response based on an annual average, although many Champagne houses simply respond, “We do not wish to communicate our quantities.” As far as we’re concerned, that’s pretty much like pleading the Fifth on the witness stand; yes, you’re not incriminating yourself, but anyone paying attention knows you’re probably guilty of something. In the case of some Champagne houses, that something is making a whole lot of bottles—millions of them—while creating an illusion of rarity.
We received the exact opposite reply regarding Armand de Brignac Blanc de Noirs Assemblage No. 4. Yasmin Allen, the company’s president and CEO, told us only 7,328 bottles would be released of this Pinot Noir offering. It’s good to know that with a sticker price of around $1,800, it’s highly limited, but it still makes one wonder what’s so exceptional about it.
Known by its nickname, Ace of Spades, for its distinctive and decorative metallic packaging, Armand de Brignac is owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy and Jay-Z and is produced by Champagne Cattier. Each bottle of Assemblage No. 4 is numbered; a small plate on the back reads “Assemblage Four, [X,XXX]/7,328, Disgorged: 20 April, 2023.” Prior to disgorgement, it spent seven years in the bottle on lees after primary fermentation mostly in stainless steel with a small amount in concrete. That’s the longest of the house’s Champagnes spent on the lees, but Allen says the winemaking team tasted along the way and would have disgorged earlier than planned if they’d felt the time was right.
Chef de cave, Alexandre Cattier, says the wine is sourced from some of the best Premier and Grand Cru Pinot Noir–producing villages in the Champagne region, including Chigny-les-Roses, Verzenay, Rilly-la-Montagne, Verzy, Ludes, Mailly-Champagne, and Ville-sur-Arce in the Aube département. This is considered a multi-vintage expression, using wine from a consecutive trio of vintages—2013, 2014, and 2015—to create an “intense and rich” blend. Seventy percent of the offering is from 2015 (hailed as one of the finest vintages in recent memory), with 15 percent each from the other two years.
This precisely crafted Champagne uses only the tête de cuvée juice, a highly selective extraction process. As Allen points out, “the winemakers solely take the first and freshest portion of the gentle cuvée grape press,” which assures that the finished wine will be the highest quality. Armand de Brignac used grapes from various sites and three different vintages so the final product would reflect the house signature style. This is the fourth release in a series that began with Assemblage No. 1. “Testing different levels of intensity of aromas with the balance of red and dark fruits has been a guiding principle between the Blanc de Noirs that followed,” Allen explains.
The CEO recommends allowing the Assemblage No. 4 to linger in your glass for a while, telling us, “Your palette will go on a journey, evolving from one incredible aroma to the next as the wine warms in your glass where it will open up to an extraordinary length.” We found it to have a gorgeous bouquet of raspberry and Mission fig with hints of river rock; as it opened, notes of toasted almond and just-baked brioche became noticeable. With striking acidity and a vein of minerality, it has luscious nectarine, passion fruit, candied orange peel, and red plum flavors with touches of beeswax and a whiff of baking spices on the enduring finish. We enjoyed our bottle with a roast chicken rubbed with butter and herbes de Provence and savored the final, extremely rare sip with a bit of Stilton. Unfortunately, the pairing possibilities are not infinite with this release; there are only 7,327 more ways to enjoy yours.
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Bill Henson Show Opens at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery
Dark, grainy and full of shadows Bill Henson’s latest show draws on 35 mm colour film shot in New York City in 1989.
Bill Henson is one of Australia’s best-known contemporary photographers. When a show by this calibre of artist opens here, the art world waits with bated breath to see what he will unveil.
This time, he presents a historically important landscape series that chronicles a time in New York City that no longer exists. It’s a nostalgic trip back in time, a nocturnal odyssey through the frenetic, neon-lit streets of a long-lost America.
Known for his chiaroscuro style, Henson’s cinematic photographs often transform his subject into ambiguous objects of beauty. This time round, the show presents a mysterious walk through the streets of Manhattan, evoking a seedy, yet beautiful vision of the city.
Relying on generative gaps, these landscapes result from Henson mining his archive of negatives and manipulating them to produce a finished print. Sometimes, they are composed by a principle of magnification, with Henson honing in on details, and sometimes, they are created through areas of black being expanded to make the scene more cinematic and foreboding. Like silence in a film or the pause in a pulse, the black suggests the things you can’t see.
Henson’s illustrious career has spanned four decades and was memorably marred by controversy over a series of nude adolescent photographs shown in 2008, which made him front-page news for weeks. This series of portraits made Henson the subject of a police investigation during which no offence was found.
In recent years, Henson has been a sharp critic of cancel culture, encouraging artists to contribute something that will have lasting value and add to the conversation, rather than tearing down the past.
His work deals with the liminal space between the mystical and the real, the seen and unseen, the boundary between youth and adulthood.
His famous Paris Opera Project, 1990-91, pictured above, is similarly intense as the current show, dwelling on the border between the painterly and the cinematic.
Bill Henson’s ‘The Liquid Night’ runs until 11 May 2024 at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 8 Soudan Ln, Paddington NSW; roslynoxley9.com.au
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Polar Opposites
A journey north to one of the harshest, remotest spots on Earth couldn’t be more luxurious.
A century ago, an expedition to the North Pole involved dog sleds and explorers in heavy, fur-lined clothes, windburned and famished after weeks of trudging across ice floes, finally planting their nations’ flags in the barren landscape. These days, if you’re a tourist, the only way to reach 90 degrees north latitude, the geographic North Pole, is aboard Le Commandant Charcot, a six-star hotel mated to a massive, 150-metre ice-breaking hull.
My wife, Cathy, and I are among the first group of tourists aboard Ponant’s new expedition icebreaker, the world’s only Polar Class 2–rated cruise ship (of seven levels of ice vessel, second only to research and military vessels in ability to manoeuvre in Arctic conditions). Our arrival on July 14 couldn’t be more different from explorer Robert Peary’s on April 6, 1909. On that date, he reported, he staked a small American flag—sewed by his wife—into the Pole, joined by four Inuits and his assistant, Matthew Henson, a Black explorer from Maine who was with Peary on his two previous Arctic expeditions. (Peary’s claim of being first to the Pole was quickly disputed by another American, Frederick Cook, who insisted he’d spent two days there a year earlier. Scholars now view both claims with skepticism.)
Our 300-plus party’s landing, on Bastille Day, features the captain of the French ship driving around in an all-terrain vehicle with massive wheels and an enormous tricolour flag on the back, guests dressed in stylish orange parkas celebrating on the ice, and La Marseillaise, France’s national anthem, blaring from loudspeakers. After an hour of taking selfies and building snow igloos in the icescape, with temperatures in the relatively balmy low 30s, we head back into our heated sanctuary for mulled wine and freshly baked croissants. Mission accomplished. Flags planted. Now, lunch.
As a kid, I was fascinated by stories of adventurers trying to reach the North Pole without any means of rescue. In the 19th century, most of their attempts ended in disaster—ships getting trapped in the ice, a hydrogen balloon crashing, even cannibalism. It wasn’t until Cook and Peary reportedly set foot there that the race to the North Pole was really on. Norwegian Roald Amundsen, the first to reach the South Pole, in 1911, is credited with being the first to document a trip over the North Pole, which he did in 1926 in the airship Norge. In 1977, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika became the first surface vessel to make it to the North Pole. Since then, only 18 other ships have completed the voyage.
Visiting the North Pole seemed about as likely for me as walking on the Moon. It wasn’t even on my bucket list. Then came Le Commandant Charcot, which was named after France’s most beloved polar explorer and reportedly cost about US$430 million (around $655 million) to build. The irony of visiting one of the planet’s most remote and inhospitable points while travelling in the lap of luxury doesn’t escape me or anyone else I speak with on the voyage. Danie Ferreira, from Cape Town, South Africa, describes it as “an ensemble of contradictions bordering on the absurd”. Ferreira, who is on board with his wife, Suzette, is a veteran of early-explorer-style high-Arctic journeys, months-long treks involving dog sleds and real toil and suffering. He booked this trip to obtain an official North Pole stamp for an upcoming two-volume collection of his photographs, Out in the Cold, documenting his polar adventures. “Reserving the cabin felt like a betrayal of my expeditionary philosophy,” he says with a laugh.
Then, like the rest of us, he embraces the contradictions. “This is like the first time I saw the raw artistry of Cirque du Soleil,” he explains. “Everything is beyond my wildest expectations, unrelatable to anything I’ve experienced.”
The 17-day itinerary launches from the Norwegian settlement of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, the northernmost town in the Arctic Circle, and heads 1,186 nautical miles to the North Pole, then back again. As a floating hotel, the vessel is exceptional: 123 balconied staterooms and suites, the most expensive among them duplexes with butler service (prices range from around $58,000 to $136,000 per person, double occupancy); a spa with a sauna, massage therapists, and aestheticians; a gym and heated indoor pool. The boat weighs more than 35,000 tons, enabling it to break ice floes like “a chocolate bar into little pieces, rather than slice through them”, according to Captain Patrick Marchesseau. Six-metre-wide stainless-steel propellers, he adds, were designed to “chew ice like a blender”.
Marchesseau, a tall, lanky, 40-ish mariner from Brittany, impeccable in his navy uniform but rocking royal-blue boat shoes, proves to be a charming host. Never short of a good quip, he’s one of three experienced ice captains who alternate at the helm of Charcot throughout the year. He began piloting Ponant ships through drifting ice floes in Antarctica in 2009, when he took the helm of Le Diamant, Ponant’s first expedition vessel. “An epic introduction,” Marchesseau calls those early voyages, but the isolated, icebound North Pole aboard a larger, more complicated vessel is potentially an even thornier challenge. “We’ll first sail east where the ice is less concentrated and then enter the pack at 81 degrees,” he tells a lecture hall filled with passengers on day one. “We don’t plan to stop until we get to the North Pole.”
Around us, the majority of the other 101 guests are older French couples; there are also a few extended families, some other Europeans, mostly German and Dutch, as well as 10 Americans. Among the supporting cast are six research scientists and 221 staff, including 18 naturalist guides from a variety of countries.
The first six days are more about the journey than the destination. Cathy and I settle into our comfortable stateroom, enjoy the ocean views from our balcony, make friends with other guests and naturalists, frequent the spa, and indulge in the contemporary French cuisine at Nuna, which is often jarred by ice passing under the hull, as well as at the more casual Sila (Inuit for “sky”). There are the usual cruise events: the officers’ gala, wine pairings, daily French pastries, Broadway-style shows, opera singers and concert pianists. Initially, I worry about “Groundhog Day” setting in, but once we hit patchy ice floes on day two, it’s clear that the polar party is on. The next day, we’re ensconced in the ice pack.
Veterans of Arctic journeys immediately feel at home. Ferreira, often found on the observation deck 15 metres above the ice with his long-lensed cameras, is in his element snapping different patterns and colours of the frozen landscape. “It feels like combining low-level flying with an out-of-body experience,” he says. “Whenever the hull shudders against the ice, I have a reality check.”
“I came back because I love this ice,” adds American Gin Millsap, who with her husband, Jim, visited the North Pole in 2015 aboard the Russian nuclear icebreaker Fifty Years of Victory, which for obvious reasons is no longer a viable option for Americans and many Europeans. “I love the peace, beauty and calmness.”
It is easy to bliss out on the endless barren vistas, constantly morphing into new shapes, contours and shades of white as the weather moves from bright sunshine to howling snowstorms—sometimes within the course of a few hours. I spend a lot of time on the cold, windswept bow, looking at the snow patterns, ridges and rivers flowing within the pale landscape as the boat crunches through the ice. It feels like being in a black-and-white movie, with no colours except the turquoise bottoms of ice blocks overturned by the boat. Beautiful, lonely, mesmerising.
Rather than a solid landmass, the Arctic ice pack is actually millions of square kilometres of ice floes, slowly pushed around by wind and currents. The size varies according to season: this past winter, the ice was at its fifth-lowest level on record, encompassing 14.6 million square kilometres, while during our cruise it was 4.7 million square kilometres, the 10th-lowest summer number on record. There are myriad ice types—young ice, pancake ice, ice cake, brash ice, fast ice—but the two that our ice pilot, Geir-Martin Leinebø, cares about are first-year ice and old ice. The thinness of the former provides the ideal route to the Pole, while the denseness of the aged variety can result in three-to-eight-metre-high ridges that are potentially impassable. Leinebø is no novice: in his day job, he’s the captain of Norway’s naval icebreaker, KV Svalbard, the first Norwegian vessel to reach the North Pole, in 2019.
It’s not a matter of just pointing the boat due north and firing up the engine. Leinebø zigzags through the floes. A morning satellite feed and special software aid in determining the best route; the ship’s helicopter sometimes scouts 65 or so kilometres ahead, and there’s a sonar called the Sea Ice Monitoring System (SIMS). But mostly Leinebø uses his eyes. “You look for the weakest parts of the ice—you avoid the ridges because that means thickness and instead look for water,” he says. “If the ‘water sky’ in the distance is dark, it’s reflecting water like a mirror, so you head in that direction.”
Everyone on the bridge is surprised by the lack of multi-year ice, but with more than a hint of disquietude. Though we don’t have to ram our way through frozen ridges, the advance of climate change couldn’t be more apparent. Environmentalists call the Arctic ice sheet the canary in the coal mine of the planet’s climate change for good reason: it is happening here first. “It’s not right,” mutters Leinebø. “There’s just too much open water for July. Really scary.”
The Arctic ice sheet has shrunk to about half its 1985 size, and as both mariners and scientists on board note, the quality of the ice is deteriorating. “It’s happening faster than our models predicted,” says Marisol Maddox, senior arctic analyst at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “We’re seeing major events like Greenland’s ice sheet melting and sliding into the ocean—that wasn’t forecasted until 2070.” The consensus had been that the Arctic would be ice-free by 2050, but many scientists now expect that day to come in the 2030s.
That deterioration, it turns out, is why the three teams of scientists are on the voyage—two studying the ice and the other assessing climate change’s impact on plankton. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Ponant has designed two research labs—one wet and one dry—on a lower deck. “We took the advice of many scientists for equipping these labs,” says Hugues Decamus, Charcot’s chief engineer, clearly proud of the nearly US$12 million facilities.
The combined size of the labs, along with a sonar room, a dedicated server for the scientists, and a meteorological station on the vessel’s top deck, totals 130 square metres—space that could have been used for revenue generation. Ponant also has two staterooms reserved for scientists on each voyage and provides grants for travel expenses. The line doesn’t cherrypick researchers but instead asks the independent Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) to choose participants based on submissions.
The idea, says the vessel’s science officer on this voyage, Daphné Buiron, is to make the process transparent and minimise the appearance of greenwashing. “Yes, this alliance may deliver a positive public image for the company, but this ship shows we do real science on board,” she says. The labs will improve over time, adds Decamus, as the ship amasses more sophisticated equipment.
Research scientists and tourist vessels don’t typically mix. The former, wary of becoming mascots for the cruise lines’ sustainability marketing efforts, and cognisant of the less-than-pristine footprint of many vessels, tend to be wary. The cruise lines, for their part, see scientists as potentially high maintenance when paying customers should be the priority. But there seemed to be a meeting of the minds, or at least a détente, on Le Commandant Charcot.
“We discuss this a lot and are aware of the downsides, but also the positives,” says Franz von Bock und Polach, head of the institute for ship structural design and analysis at Hamburg University of Technology, specialising in the physics of sea ice. Not only does Charcot grant free access to these remote areas, but the ship will also collect data on the same route multiple times a year with equipment his team leaves on board, offering what scientists prize most: repeatability. “One transit doesn’t have much value,” he says. “But when you measure different seasons, regions and years, you build up a more complex picture.” So, more than just a research paper: forecasts of ice conditions for long-term planning by governments as the Arctic transforms.
Nils Haëntjens, from the University of Maine, is analysing five-millilitre drops of water on a high-tech McLane IFCB microscope. “The instrument captures more than 250,000 images of phytoplankton along the latitudinal transect,” he says. Charcot has doors in the wet lab that allow the scientists to take water samples, and in the bow, inlets take in water without contaminating it. Two freezers can preserve samples for further research back in university labs.
Even though the boat won’t stop, the captain and chief engineer clearly want to make the science missions work. Marchesseau dispatches the helicopter with the researchers and their gear 100 kilometres ahead, where they take core samples and measurements. I spot them in their red snowsuits, pulling sleds on an ice floe, as the boat passes. Startled to see living-colour humans on the ice after days of monochrome, I feel a pang of jealousy as I head for a caviar tasting.
The only other humans we encounter on the journey north are aboard Fifty Years of Victory, the Russian icebreaker. The 160-metre orange- and-black leviathan reached the North Pole a day earlier—its 59th visit—and is on its way back to Murmansk. It’s a classic East meets West moment: the icebreaker, launched just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, meeting the new standard of polar luxury.
The evening before Bastille Day, Le Commandant Charcot arrives at the North Pole. Because of the pinpoint precision of the GPS, Marchesseau has to navigate back and forth for about 20 minutes—with a bridge full of passengers hushing each other so as not to distract him—until he finds 90 degrees north. That final chaotic approach to the top of the world in the grey, windswept landscape looks like a kid’s Etch A Sketch on the chartplotter, but it is met with rousing cheers. The next morning, with good visibility and light winds, we spill out onto the ice for the celebration, followed by a polar plunge.
As guests pose in front of flags and mile markers for major cities, the naturalist guides, armed with rifles, establish a wide perimeter to guard against polar bears. The fearless creatures are highly intelligent, with razor-sharp teeth, hooked claws and the ability to sprint at 40 km/h. Males average about three metres tall and weigh around 700 kilos. They are loners that will kill anything—including other bears and even their own cubs. Cathy and I walk around the far edges of the perimeter to enjoy some solitude. Looking out over the white landscape, I know this is a milestone. But it feels odd that getting here didn’t involve any sweat or even a modicum of discomfort.
The rest of the week is an entirely different trip. On the return south, we see a huge male polar bear ambling on the ice, looking over his shoulder at us. It is our first sighting of the Arctic’s apex predator, and everyone crowds the observation lounge with long-lensed cameras. The next day, we see another male, this one smaller, running away from the ship. “They have many personalities,” says Steiner Aksnes, head of the expedition team, who has led scientists and film crews in the Arctic for 25 years. We see a dozen on the return to Svalbard, where 3,000 are scattered across the archipelago, outnumbering human residents.
The last five days we make six stops on different islands, travelling by Zodiac from Charcot to various beaches. On Lomfjorden, as we look on a hundred yards from shore, a mother polar bear protects her two cubs while a young male hovers in the background. On a Zodiac ride off Alkefjellet, the air is alive with birds, including tens of thousands of Brünnich’s guillemots as well as glaucous gulls and kittiwakes, which nest in that island’s cliffs, while a young male polar bear munches on a ring seal, chin glistening red.
On this part of the trip, the expedition team, mostly 30-something, free-spirited scientists whose areas of expertise range from botany to alpine trekking to whales, lead hikes across different landscapes. The jam-packed schedule sometimes involves three activities per day and includes following the reindeer on Palanderbukta, seeing a colony of 200 walruses on Kapp Lee, hiking the black tundra of Burgerbukta (boasting 3.8-cm-tall willows—said to be the smallest trees in the world and the largest on Svalbard—plus mosquitoes!), watching multiple species of whales breaching offshore, and kayaking the ice floes of Ekmanfjorden. Svalbard is a protected wilderness area, and the cruise lines tailor their schedules so vessels don’t overlap, giving visitors the impression they are setting foot on virgin land.
Chances to experience that sense of discovery and wonder, even slightly stage-managed ones, are dwindling along with the ice sheet and endangered wildlife. If a stunning trip to a frozen North Pole is on your bucket list, the time to go is now.
PARADIGM SHIP
For those studying polar ice, a berth aboard Le Commandant Charcot is like a winning lottery ticket. “This cruise ship is one of the few resources scientists can use, because nothing else can get there,” says G. Mark Miller, CEO of research-vessel builder Greenwater Marine Sciences Offshore (GMSO) and a former ship captain for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Then factor in 80 percent of scientists who want to go to sea, can’t, because of the shortage of research vessels.”
Both Ponant and Viking have designed research labs aboard new expedition vessels as part of their sustainability initiatives. “Remote areas like Antarctica need more data—the typical research is just single data points,” says Damon Stanwell-Smith, Ph.D., head of science and sustainability at Viking. “Every scientist says more information is needed.” The twin sisterships Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, which travel to Antarctica, Patagonia, the Great Lakes and Canada, have identical 35-square-metre labs, separated into wet and dry areas and fitted out with research equipment. In hangars below are military-grade rigid-hulled inflatables and two six-person yellow submersibles (the pair on Octantis are named John and Paul, while Polaris’s are George and Ringo). Unlike Ponant, Viking doesn’t have an independent association choose scientists for each voyage. Instead, it partners with the University of Cambridge, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and NOAA, which send their researchers to work with Viking’s onboard science officers.
“Some people think marine research is sticking some kids on a ship to take measurements,” says Stanwell-Smith. “But we know we can do first-rate science—not spin.” Other cruise lines are also embracing sustainability initiatives, with coral-reef-restoration projects and water-quality measurements, usually in partnership with universities. Just about every vessel has “citizen-scientist” research programs allowing guests the opportunity to count birds or pick up discarded plastic on beaches. So far, Ponant and Viking are the only lines with serious research labs. Ponant is adding science officers to other vessels in its fleet. As part of the initiatives, scientists deliver onboard lectures and sometimes invite passengers to assist in their research.
Given the shortage of research vessels, Stanwell-Smith thinks this passenger-funded system will coexist nicely with current NGO- and government-owned ships. “This could be a new paradigm for exploring the sea,” he says. “Maybe the next generation of research vessels will look like ours.”
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Watch of the Week: the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon
The new release claims the throne as the world’s thinnest Tourbillon.
Piaget, the watchmaker’s watchmaker, has once again redefined the meaning of “ultra-thin” thanks to its newest masterpiece, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon—the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch.
In the world of high-watchmaking where thin is never thin enough—look at the ongoing battle between Piaget, Bulgari, and Richard Mille for the honours—Piaget caused a furore at Watches & Wonders in Geneva when it unveiled its latest feat to coincide with the Maison’s 150th year anniversary.
Piaget claims that the new Altiplano is “shaped by a quest for elegance and driven by inventiveness”, and while this might be true, it’s clear that the Maison’s high-watchmaking divisions in La Côte-aux-Fées and Geneva are also looking to end the conversation around who owns the ultra-thin watchmaking category.
The new Altiplano pushes the boundaries of horological ingenuity 67 years after Piaget invented its first ultra-thin calibre—the revered 9P—and six years after it presented the world’s then-thinnest watch, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept. Now, with the release of this unrivalled timepiece at just 2mm thick—the same as its predecessor, yet now housing the beat of a flying tourbillon, prized by watchmaking connoisseurs—you can’t help but marvel at its ultra-thin mastery, whether the timepiece is to your liking or not.
In comparison, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon was 3.95mm thick when unveiled in 2020, which seems huge on paper compared to what Piaget has been able to produce. But to craft a watch as thin and groundbreaking as its predecessor, now with an added flying tourbillon complication, the whole watchmaking process had to be revalued and reinvented.
“We did far more than merely add a tourbillon,” says Benjamin Comar, Piaget CEO. “We reinvented everything.”
After three years of R&D, trial and error—and a redesign of 90 percent of the original Altiplano Ultimate Concept components—the 2024 version needs to be held and seen to be believed. The end product certainly isn’t a watch for the everyday watch wearer—although Piaget will tell you otherwise—but in many ways, the company didn’t conjure a timepiece like the Altiplano as a profit-seeking exercise. Instead, overcoming such an arduous and technical watchmaking feat proves that Piaget can master the flying tourbillon in such a whimsical fashion and, in the process, subvert the current state-of-the-art technical principles by making an impactful visual—and technical—statement.
The only question left to ask is, what’s next, Piaget?
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Model: Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon 150th Anniversary
Diameter: 41.5 mm
Thickness: 2 mm (crystal included)
Material: M64BC cobalt alloy, blue PVD -treated
Dial: Monobloc dial; polished round and baton indices, Bâton-shaped hand for the minutes Monobloc disc with a hand for the hours
Water resistance: 20m
Movement: Calibre 970P-UC, one-minute peripheral tourbillon
Winding: Hand-wound
Functions: hours, minutes, and small seconds (time-only)
Power reserve: 40 hours
Availability: Limited production, not numbered
Price: Price on request
