Information
- Brand: Piaget
- Made: 1970's
- Model: Bracelet watch
- Reference: 12336
- Calibre: 12P1
- Movement: Automatic
- Material: 18ct white gold
- Features/complications: Diamond set bezel
- Dial: Onyx dial with pavé-set diamond centre featuring applied diamond set hour indices and 18ct white gold Dauphine hands
- Case dimensions: 34mm
- Bracelet/strap: Integrated 18ct white gold brushed ridge bracelet, length approximately 185mm
- Accessories: N/A
- SKU: 2327
Essay
The BETA 21 was created in 1969 and it was agreed by the 20 Swiss houses to produce 6,000 of these movements. Later that year, a few hundred of the BETA 21 watches were released at Basel, setting a new record at the Fair. The BETA 21 movement was accurate to 5 seconds per month, which was far superior to any automatic and manual-winding watch at the time. The design for the BETA 21 watches were also very characteristic of the era --they were generally thick, angular, and even chunky (partly out of necessity as the first generation of quartz movements were comparatively large.)