Piaget 150 – Watches and Wonders 2024

Piaget presented a great collection of novelties at Watches and Wonders 2024 to celebrate its 150^th anniversary. Beside the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon and the Piaget Polo 79, a limited-edition Piaget Polo watch-duet were released. Honouring the spirit of the Maison, ‘horology-meets-high-jewellery’ creations also shined at the booth.

The Swiss Piaget was established in 1874 by Georges-Édouard Piaget, in La Côte-aux-Fées, in Neuchâtel canton of Switzerland. The company specialised primarily in pocket watches and high precision movements. In 1911 Timothée Piaget took over the company from his father. He registered the Piaget name in 1943 and started making watches under the company’s own brand. The grandchildren, Gérald and Valentin Piaget embarked on international expansion and established a new workshop as part of the capacity enlargement. The company has ateliers specialised in goldsmithing and gem-setting, meaning the artisans could master every aspect of the production of the fine pieces.

Piaget has always been associated with creativity, high society and elevated glamour – its ingenious and bold creations attracted the attention of iconic stars and socialites throughout the decades and still today. 

Piaget Polo 79

The 150^th birthday celebration has started with the relaunch of a Piaget design icon earlier this year. The Piaget Polo 79 returns in 2024, featuring a 38mm gold case and the ultra-thin 1200P1 self-winding calibre. The signature gold timepiece debuted also in Dubai at the Art Dubai and even a wider public was able to see the novelty in Geneva. 

We previewed the timepiece before the event, please read more about it here.

‘The Art of Extraleganza’

At Watches and Wonders 2024 the booth in Piaget-blue and gold offered a grandiose stage to the iconic High Jewellery Watches; the cuff timepieces, the Swinging Sautoir first introduced in 1969, or the Aura watch, launched in 1989. 

For the 35th anniversary of the Aura timepiece two unique pieces were presented, this time in red tones – set with beautiful hues of rubies, pink sapphires and diamonds. Both features the 40P ultra-thin hand-wound mechanical movement.

The new Hidden Gem Cuff watch reveals a beautiful black opal dial with iridescent greens and blues surrounded by coral-like hand-made rose gold chain cuff. 

Swinging Sautoir

In 1957 the watchmakers in La Côte-aux-Fées introduced the ultra-thin movement Calibre 9P (2mm thick) which is famous to this day. This caliber served the concept of the Maison very well – they were able to launch thinner cases and apply thicker hard stone dials, which helped to flourish the creativity of the designers. Over the years the artisans have been creating watches that doubled as jewels and were great accessories in a time of social, economic, artistic and fashion revolution. 

Important milestone in this style revolution was the launch of the sautoir watches in 1969 in Basel. It was a bold and contemporary interpretation of former pendant watches (which date back in the 17th century and became popular in the belle époque era and later in the early 20th century). The 70s jet-set models were extravagant, colourful and can be worn layered up as necklaces or belts. 

In 2024, Piaget unveils three exquisite new Swinging Sautoir, two transformable to be worn on the wrist. 

We started our morning visit at the booth with the splendid blue and green High Jewellery sautoir watch – it has a diamond-paved set hand-twisted gold chain with malachite and turquoise beads and interspersed with yellow sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds. The centrepieces are a 6.11 ct aquamarine and a rare 29.24 ct yellow sapphire from Sri Lanka. The diamond-set and turquoise dialled watch is suspended from these exceptional gemstones. The timepiece is removable and can be worn on a green satin strap. 

Piaget Polo Date 150^th anniversary editions

The Piaget Polo watch was born in 1979, and the brand became associated with the ‘sport of kings’ – a spectator sport for equestrians and high society. The original Polo was a solid gold timepiece, see more about it here. 

Since then the Piaget Polo has seen many iterations. In 2016 Piaget announced the Piaget Polo in steel, with a cushion-shaped dial in a round case and steel integrated bracelet. 

The Piaget Polo Date anniversary duet is a limited edition of a 42 mm and a 36 mm timepiece, both made of steel with a stylish rubber strap – a first for the 36 mm. The smaller size plays with brilliance, set with 60 brillant-cut diamonds on the bezel and 36 brilliant-cut diamonds on the hour markers. Each version will be produced in a series of 300 pieces.

Photo credits: Piaget, Loupiosity.com
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