In the past six years, we have seen five different watches take the title as the world’s thinnest, and now Konstantin Chaykin has come out of nowhere to steal it away once more. The Russian watchmaker, better known for his wild space watches and his animal-themed Wristmons, Chaykin wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card to contend for the thinness superlative. This competition, as it were, has been dominated by brands with lots of money. After over a decade of deep-pocketed brands dominating the conversation, seeing Konstantin Chaykin come along this year at Geneva Watch Days 2024 to introduce the Konstantin Chaykin ThinKing concept watch was a treat — and of course, he’s had a bit of fun with it.
For background, the last six years have gone something like this: In 2018, Piaget introduced a 2mm watch, followed by 1.8mm from Bulgari in 2022. Just a few months later, Richard Mille said hello with a 1.75mm watch, and two years after that Bulgari was back in it with a 1.7mm version of its 2022 watch. Now, Chaykin’s ThinKing steps up to the throne at just 1.65mm and a few tricks up its sleeve. The idea for the ThinKing came to be after a chance encounter Chaykin had with an ultra-thin 19th-century pocket watch with a movement with a cylindrical escapement that was around 1mm thick, an astonishing feat for the time (and now). Years later in 2023, a customer challenged Chaykin to create an ultra-thin watch and that old movement sprung to mind immediately.
The Konstantin Chaykin ThinKing measures 40mm across and 1.65mm thick, crafted out of a special stainless steel with increased hardness that allows it to be worn like a normal watch. It lacks a crystal and is secured to the wrist buy a patent-pending alligator leather strap with elastic inserts and flexible titanium supports. I must remark that all of these ultra-thin watches are simply too thin for practical wearing. I know a few celebrities have been seen with them, but having worn watches in the 5mm range, I can say that they are unnervingly delicate to the degree that I am deeply uncomfortable with them on my wrist. But Chaykin apparently felt at least partly the same. His solution was to create an external carrier case, dubbed the “PalanKing,” into which the ThinKing can be placed. The entire package can still be worn on the wrist, and thanks to the carrier’s own mechanism which engages with the ThinKing’s, it turns the watch into a 5.4mm automatic timepiece. Still unsettlingly svelte, but much less so than a wafer-thin 1.65mm case.
When conceiving of the ThinKing, Chaykin had to decide whether to make something wild like his Mars Conqueror or stick with the most popular face theme of the Wristmons collection, which has seen things versions with a Minion, Santa, and a jack-o’-lantern. He chose the latter, but the ThinKing is arguably the most subtle execution of the Wristmons layout — so subtle I didn’t notice it until I read the release, but there it is. The hour display on the left and minutes on the right form the eyes, the logo is the nose, and the brand name arcs in a smile across the bottom.
The watch’s movement, the K.23-0 is its own kind of brilliance. Chaykin developed a new mainspring barrel and a new double balance wheel, both of which have patents pending. The double balance has one balance that is engaged by the lever, and in turns engages the second wheel where the hairspring is found; this eliminates added layers and allows for a thinner mechanism. The winding barrel eliminates the ratcheting mechanism typical in most watches in favor of a pawl and flat spring, and the cover is completely forgone. The 204-component movement has 51 jewels and is manually wound with a key placed directly into the mainspring arbor and provides 32 hours of power on a full wind (the lowest PR of the last 5 title holders was 45 hours, for reference). When placed or worn in the carrying case (Which has a second movement that Chaykin designates as K.23-1), the watch becomes automatic and can be set (and wound) with a crown.
In the grand game of one-upmanship that is the battle for the world’s thinnest watch (or is it one-downmanship?), it’s all a bit silly. We are in a constant state of asymptotic apotheosis, where there clearly must be a limit to a watch’s thickness, but brands keep reestablishing what that limit is in their quest for glory. It’s exciting to see a small independent brand take the crown from Piaget, Bulgari, and Richard Mille. I think that’s the real story here, a David vs. Goliath tale, however short-lived David’s victory may be. Being a prototype, there is no price given for this concept piece, but Chaykin is clear that this isn’t just a one-off, and he will be producing them, perhaps with unspecified upgrades. For more information on the ThinKing, please visit the Konstantin Chaykin website.
