The Russian watchmaker may have just caused the upset of the year. Just as Bulgari, Richard Mille, and Piaget have all done before him, Konstantin Chaykin may have just created the world’s thinnest wristwatch.
Holding a world record is just about one of the most impressive things you could possibly achieve. Imagine knowing that, out of everyone else on this planet, no one else can do what you can. In the watch industry, the race to hold a world record in any niche of watchmaking is highly regarded as it is contentious. And while some records seem to be set in stone – IWC, for example, just created a watch that will accurately predict the phase of the moon for the next 45 million years – some records are simply made to be broken.
Piaget were the first to break such a record in a major way when they made what was then the world’s thinnest wristwatch, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, in 2018. Bulgari soon threw their hat into the ring, beating Piaget’s 2mm record with the 1.8mm thin Octo Finissimo Ultra in 2022. Feeling a fight on their hands, Richard Mille would join the fray with the RM-UP01 Ferrari, coming in at a mighty 1.75mm, in the same year. Bulgari would snatch back the record from Richard Mille, with this year’s Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC. But while Bulgari still has the world’s thinnest Chronometer in the world, nobody could have predicted the major upset that was to come.
Konstantin Chaykin is one of the world’s most highly regarded independent watchmakers and a horological inventor. For over twenty years, his eponymous brand has specialised in creating purely Russian-made timepieces out of Moscow, with levels of detail, artistry, and wonderment that can even make the likes of MB&F blush. From creating a watch that plays the world’s first motion picture at the press of a button, to a watch that tells the minutes via a mechanical hourglass, to the wacky and absurd Wristmons collection that even includes a Minions-themed watch – yes, really – there seems to be absolutely no limit for this micro engineering madman.
And yet, he has decided to go even further with his new addition to the Wristmons lineup – the ThinKing. While still in its prototyping stage, the ThinKing is the latest entry into the thin watch arms race. Yet for an independent entry, you’d expect it to perhaps make the top five. However, the dedication of Chaykin is second to none, smashing the multi-million dollar brands in just one fell swoop. The ThinKing comes in at a monumental 1.65mm thick, beating a record Bulgari took two years to claw back – in just four months.
To put things in perspective, the Konstantin Chaykin is thinner than the average strand of spaghetti, and is less than .9mm thicker than the average credit card. It’s a watch that you can literally fit into your wallet, and it’s scarcely believable that such a thing could possibly function. Yet Chaykin finds a way, thanks to the K-23-0 movement, complete with manual key winding and a 32h power reserve. He even took the time to put in his signature Wristmons flair into it, as the watch is a regulator style, with the hours and minutes for the eyes, his brand logo for the nose, and a curved ‘Konstantin Chaykin’ logo text for the mouth, grinning all the while.
Final Thoughts
As I said, being the world’s greatest anything can draw massive amounts of attention towards yourself or whatever you represent. In their pursuit of the world’s thinnest watch, Piaget most certainly knew this, as did Richard Mille and Bulgari. But for one man to march into the middle of a war for the top spot and come out victorious is nothing short of poetic and hilarious.
But Konstantin Chaykin is no average man, nor is his brand. A venerable horological mastermind, Chaykin has single-handedly raised the bar for which these big corporate bodies have to scramble to jump over. Though it is still technically a prototype, the ThinKing is ready to take the fight to the big dogs of the watch world, and it will surely do so whilst keeping that smile on its face.
Reference: ThinKing Prototype 2
- Dimensions: 40mm case diameter x 1.65mm thickness
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Dial: Konstantin Chaykin’s ‘Joker’ configuration
- Movement: In-House manual wind K-23-0 movement
- Beat Rate: 2.5Hz (18,000VpH)
- Power Reserve: 32h
- Water Resistance: 100m (10bar)
- Strap: Specially developed black alligator/elastic strap with stainless steel pin buckle
