The world of horology has laid claim to a number of world records over the years. It’s not surprising too as watchmakers have constantly broken the barriers of watchmaking, taking it to new and impressive heights.

Driven by the spirit of innovation and the insatiable need to create complications and movements that consistently raise the bar in the industry, these are some examples from the wristwatch world that have not only defied conventions but also broke records along the way.

Piaget has carved a reputation for making some of the thinnest wristwatches on the planet. But the Altiplano 910P is testament to that fact. Measuring only 4.3mm thick, the 41mm timepiece is a marvel of ingenuity as it features a super slim movement made with over 200 components. A large part of why it works so well is down to super-slim rotor made with 22k gold and coated with black PVD that runs along the edge of the dial, which eliminates an extra layer of the timepiece.

How does one set out to build the world’s thinnest minute repeater? Well in the case of Bulgari, they took a 3.12mm slim hand-wound Caliber BVL 362 and stuck it inside a 6.85-mm-thin titanium case. The material is also used on the dial with stamped-out indexes and seconds circle. A button on the side of the case triggers the chimes at regular intervals, which is kept in check by a centrifugal brake.

For 90 years, the hand-wound Caliber 101 has stood as the world’s smallest mechanical calibre. How light you ask? Well it weighs just one gram, which is remarkable considering it has 98 individual components and measures 14 mm in length, 4.8 mm in width, and just 3.4 mm thick. It is undoubtedly impressive and expectedly very hard to make, which is why Jaeger-LeCoultre only manages a double-digit number of this custom built movement for production each year.

It’s ridiculous to even fathom how Bulgari has managed to make a hand-wound tourbillon movement that’s actually thinner than a coin. It’s all made possible by the Caliber BVL 268, which boasts a number of technical solutions that allows it to work remarkably well despite measuring just 1.95mm thick. Housed in a platinum case with a diameter of 40 mm and a height of 5 mm, it stands as the world’s slimmest tourbillion made to date.

2mm thick. That’s how thin this mechanical wristwatch from Piaget is and it’s all pretty much due to the tried and tested Caliber 9P that Piaget created in the 60s. The concept of that innovative movement has set the benchmark for ultra-thin movements everywhere. To ensure the wristwatch continues to function well, the watchmaker developed a rigid cobalt-based alloy for its case and for the base plate of the movement.