News · Piaget

Piaget brings a minute repeater into the Polo case

The blue openworked reference uses an ultra-thin automatic chiming calibre in a 9.3mm white-gold case, with five pieces planned for 2026.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 1 September 2026

• Piaget moves its automatic ultra-thin chiming calibre from the former Emperador Coussin context into the contemporary Polo collection for the first time.
• A 48mm white-gold cushion case surrounds a blue hand-guilloché openworked dial, visible regulator and nine-o'clock repeater slide within 9.3mm thickness.
• The numbered edition has five pieces planned for 2026, supplied on calfskin with a second alligator strap and priced on request.

Piaget's automatic calibre 1290P previously appeared in the Emperador Coussin, joining the manufacture's ultra-thin movement work to one of traditional watchmaking's most demanding complications. Monochrome dated its account of the calibre's return on 31 August 2026 and identified this as the first minute repeater in Piaget's contemporary cushion-shaped sports collection. The move links a complication already present in the manufacture's catalogue with a Polo range better known for time-only watches, chronographs and calendars. The numbered reference combines a white-gold case, openworked blue dial and micro-rotor winding in the Piaget Polo Minute Repeater.

A 9.3mm white-gold case around a chiming movement

Reference G0A51038 measures 48mm across and 9.3mm thick. Its rhodium-finished 18-carat white-gold case has the broad cushion shape associated with the modern Polo, a sapphire front crystal and a sapphire display back. The measurements and outline sit close to those of the former Emperador Coussin minute repeater, preserving a case format already used around the calibre. The minute-repeater slide occupies the case's nine o'clock side, allowing its owner to activate the strike sequence. Water resistance is rated to 3 bar, distinguishing the specification from the higher water-resistance figures attached to more conventional sports watches.

A minute repeater sounds the hours, quarter-hours and remaining minutes on demand. After the slide is activated, a low note counts the hours, alternating tones identify the quarter-hours, and a higher note counts the remaining minutes. The calibre must sequence those strikes, govern their pace and transfer the sound through the case while continuing to indicate the time. Piaget quotes 64 decibels for this reference, with the hour strike tuned to G-sharp and the minute strike to A-sharp. The 9.3mm total thickness includes both that acoustic mechanism and an automatic winding system. Its 48mm diameter also provides a broad case around the gongs and movement.

Calibre 1290P behind an openworked blue dial

Piaget's official specification identifies the self-winding 1290P as a 34.9mm-wide, 4.8mm-thick cushion-shaped movement with 44 jewels. It runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour, or 3 Hz, and provides approximately 40 hours of power reserve. A platinum micro-rotor performs the winding without placing a full-diameter mass across the view through the case back. The movement is conceived, developed, finished and assembled at Piaget's La Côte-aux-Fées manufacture. The calibre provides hours, minutes and the minute-repeater function. Its 4.8mm height accounts for slightly more than half of the complete case thickness.

The white-gold dial is openworked and hand-guilloché, with blue PVD accents and a blue sapphire ring. At four o'clock, that ring carries the words “La Côte-aux-Fées” and frames the visible inertia wheel that regulates the repeater. The shaped opening exposes parts of the mechanism beneath, while the surrounding hour track and central hands preserve the time display. Hand-bevelled bridges, a guilloché mainplate and mirror-polished repeater hammers extend the decorative work into the calibre. Piaget's product page describes the dial colour as blue and its finishing as guilloché.

An embossed blue calfskin strap continues the dial colour and closes with an 18-carat white-gold triple-folding clasp. An additional alligator strap is also supplied. The sapphire back leaves the movement visible from the rear, including the micro-rotor, hammers and bridges around it. The back also confirms that the repeater remains self-winding rather than requiring manual winding after each period off the wrist. The clasp keeps white gold in the attachment without surrounding the case with a matching bracelet. Case, dial and strap share a blue-and-white-metal palette, while the openworked sections distinguish this reference from closed-dial Polo watches.

Piaget Polo Minute Repeater pricing and availability

Piaget lists the price on request. Monochrome's launch account identifies G0A51038 as a numbered edition with five pieces planned for production in 2026. That statement defines the current year's allocation without claiming an annual production rate or a fixed total beyond what has been announced. No public currency figure accompanies the reference. The watch is presented through Piaget's exact product page, with boutique contact and servicing information available from the manufacture. Both supplied straps and the white-gold folding clasp form part of the announced package.

The reference brings the 1290P's 4.8mm automatic minute-repeater construction into a 9.3mm Polo case without changing the calibre's stated 40-hour reserve or 3 Hz frequency. It remains a self-winding chiming watch rather than a manually wound display piece, with its regulator visible from the front. Its 48mm diameter remains substantial, and the 3-bar rating sets a clear practical limit despite the collection name. The principal change is therefore the calibre's collection context and its presentation through a blue openworked Polo dial, not a newly named movement. The commercial position is equally narrow: a numbered edition, five pieces planned for 2026 and no public retail figure. Piaget has made the repeater a defined Polo catalogue reference, while keeping its initial availability to a very small stated group.