Piaget, a leader in ultra-thin watches and movements, unveiled the world’s thinnest self-winding tourbillon wristwatch at SIHH 2011, the Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatic Ultra-Thin. In the first photo above, it is sitting next to a Piaget Altiplano, which is the world’s thinnest self-winding watch, at 5.25mm thick. The Emperador is thin, but because it has a tourbillon, it is almost twice as thick as the Altiplano, at 10.4 mm thick. The Emperador features a beautiful skeleton laser-engraved sapphire glass dial that allows a very nice view of the impressively thin movement. Plus, a platinum monoblock micro-rotor sits on the front of the watch, as opposed to being located on the back side like most watches. And because so much is visible through the dial, Piaget decided to use a mostly solid caseback, with a small window to admire the tourbillon (which means you can see the tourbillon cage from the front or back side), and a small aperture to check the power reserve.

Power reserve is 40 hours. The cushion case is available in white or rose gold and measure 46.5 mm x 46.5 mm (10.4mm thick). Caliber 1270P is made in-house by Piaget. The movement features 269 parts, 35 jewels and vibrates at 21,600 vph. It features hours, minutes, seconds, flying tourbillon and a power reserve indicator.

The Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Automatic Ultra-Thin is fitted with either a brown or black alligator leather strap, secured by an 18-carat rose or white gold folding clasp. Water-resistance is 30 meters.

Retail TBD