The oldest and most pristine objects known, primitive meteorites, are particulary important since they are the only known natural objects that document events in the early Solar System and Solar disk over 4.5 billion years ago. My current research develops new methods to physicochemically extract Pb-isotopes from meteoritic materials (CAIs, chondrules, mineral separates) for the purpose of resolving extremely precise (<1 Myr) ages from these samples by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). This is achievable by direct whole-sample analyses using novel ionization methods combined with new ion-source designs. Ways to improve conventional "wet" column-chromatographic techniques are also being developed, including calibration of new mixed-double U-Pb isotopic spikes. These new procedures under development are now being applied to a range of the most ancient meteorites, some of which include the Allende and Tagish Lake carbonaceous chondrites and igneous phases from basaltic angrites (i.e. SAH99555). Isolating and mass spectrometrically measuring preserved isotopic fingerprints in ancient meteorites allows calculating precise ages for these objects. In this way, the nature of the environments that motivated the birth of the meteorite parent bodies (before the planets formed) can be delineated from such extremely presice and constrained ages. Deciphering the formation of our Solar System through radioactive isotopes is a highly interdisciplinary activity and pushes the frontier of geology, astrophysics, nuclear physics and planetary science.