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 manufacture made 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: bevelled 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.