In recent years, the giants of European horology have been locked in a heated battle to design the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. Luxury brands Bulgari, Piaget and Richard Mille have all, since 2018, held the coveted record, which was most recently broken by Bulgari’s sleek 1.7-millimeter-thick Octo Finissimo Ultra Mark II, in April.
But now, an independent Russian watchmaker and inventor may have trumped them all. Moscow-based Konstantin Chaykin says his new ThinKing prototype , which he debuted at the Geneva Watch Days fair in Switzerland in August, is just 1.65 millimeters (less than one-fifteenth of an inch) thick.
He also believes it to be among the world’s lightest watches, weighing just 13.3 grams (less than 0.47 ounces), without its strap.
In an email to CNN, Chaykin said he has developed various innovations to make his design thinner “without compromising its functionality,” including a winding mechanism that is integrated into the barrel of the watch. The ThinKing also features a “double balance” wheel that allowed Chaykin to reduce the number of layers in the watch movement. Mechanisms for winding the watch and adjusting its dials are, meanwhile, found in a separate 5.
4-millimeter-thick carrier case, freeing up space (though the ThinKing can also be wound with a key). Chaykin said he has filed several patent applications, though none have yet been granted. The watch is made using stainless steel and tungsten carbide, a light but exceptionally rigi.
