Names, like looks, can be deceiving. Despite what you might think, the original Piaget Polo was not designed for life on a polo pitch. Instead, this was a watch created for those in the stands – the ones dressed in crisp linen, rather than the players locking mallets below them.

First launched in 1979, then-chairman Mr Yves G Piaget succinctly described the Piaget Polo, which was created to meet demand from the US market for a sporty luxury watch, as “a wrist bracelet rather than a mere wristwatch”. Entirely made in gold, it bore a distinctive striated design that crossed seamlessly from the bracelet onto the case body and dial, making it hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

With its elegant cushion case and sleek integrated bracelet, the Piaget Polo was an instant hit, presenting a sporty alternative to the ultra-slim dress watches of the brand’s Altiplano range. And Piaget, never one to rest on its laurels, has now decided to employ one of the highest watchmaking crafts on the Piaget Polo to create a unique haute/sport hybrid – the Piaget Polo Skeleton.

Skeletonisation, in its truest form, requires a master watchmaker to take a complete movement, mark out where metal is to be removed with a series of small holes, then cut out this design with a small handsaw. It used to only be used on high-complication watches, where the openworking allowed you to see even more of the watch’s mechanical wizardry. Now, it is as much a style statement as it is a sign of the brand’s horological prowess – although, in this particular case, there’s a bit of both going on.

The challenge with the Piaget Polo Skeleton was how to retro-engineer some dressy elegance into a sporty luxury watch through skeletonisation, without losing any of the lines that make the Piaget Polo instantly recognisable – the curved, cushion-shaped case, round bezel and slim profile. Being Piaget, it decided to do what it does best and make things slimmer. The design has been rework to fit with the 1200S1 movement, which is only 2.4mm thick. The result is a striking watch with a 6.5mm ultra-thin case.

An oscillating weight that harnesses the motion of your wrist to power the mainspring, the rotor is a crucial component in any self-winding watch. But because it typically takes up the entire diameter of the movement, it can make a watch feel noticeably thicker. The smaller micro-rotor – which can be seen through the sapphire-crystal exhibition caseback – solves this problem, allowing the Piaget Polo Skeleton to fit much more into a slimmer case while retaining the 44-hour power reserve of the original.

A slimmer case makes for a more versatile watch, and one that easily slips under the cuff of a shirt. Meanwhile, the intricacy of the Piaget Polo Skeleton’s dial – a nod to the world of haute horlogerie – gives off a dressier, more discerning attitude. The aesthetic duality of the Piaget Polo Skeleton is also emphasised by the quick-change bracelet system, which allows you to switch between the everyday steel H-link option or, for a more refined look, an alligator strap in a complimentary shade to the movement.

Giving a sporty luxury watch a treatment traditionally associated with fine watchmaking was always going to raise eyebrows. Piaget has done so for all the right reasons.