At the end of the summer Piaget launched its first ever ceramic timepiece, the Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic. The novelty combines ceramic with the art of skeletonization. The Maison presented the watch and other creations in the beautiful setting of the Signau House in Zurich.
The Signau House is located in the middle of the Riesbach residential area of Zurich – after extensive renovation work, it opened as a boutique hotel in mid-2018. The architecture of the villa combines historical charm with modern comfort. Last week Piaget organised a breakfast here to display its latest launch. The colours, the high ceilings, the magnificent windows and the elaborate details gave a great backdrop for the Piaget Society philosophy of the the brand.
Outstanding examples from the Piaget Private Collection were also on view, showcasing the rich and diverse heritage of the company (we covered a few other exceptional pieces from the collection here).
The Villa Syz on Signaustrasse in Zurich-Riesbach was built in 1912 by the architects Pfleghard & Haefeli – their office office was one of the most renowned in Zurich at that time – on behalf of the textile industrialist George W. Syz (1861-1946). The garden, designed by the landscape architect Gustav Ammann (1885–1955), formed a spatial unit with the house.
In the 1960s, the building was converted into offices and parts of the house and the garden was destroyed. In 2014 it was up for sale. This caught the attention of three Zurich couples Syz, Preiss and Jeszenszky and bought it together. Interesting to note, that in the Salon Vert there is currently a painting about a coat of arms above the red marble fireplace – this showcases the so-called ‘Nagyjeszeni Jeszenszky’ ancient Hungarian noble family’s crest.
Between 2015 and 2018, Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architects converted the building into a boutique hotel. By redesigning the park in collaboration with landscape architect Daniel Ganz, they brought the house and garden back together into a single unit and gave the villa back its former significance. The Signau House belongs to the collective of owners, the families Hans G. Syz, Stefan Preiss and Dezső Jeszenszky. The listed villa has nine rooms and a suite, a cinema room as well as various rooms, terraces and a garden.
Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic
More and more high-end watch brands came up in the recent years with ceramic watches (like the very recognisable Chanel J12, the coloured ceramic TOP GUN pieces from IWC or the matte sandblasted ceramic Zenith Pilot – just to name a few).
Piaget interpreted the material its own way – the understated but stylish Polo case houses the skeletonized Manufacture 1200S1 ultra-thin self-winding calibre.
Skeleton watches appeared at Piaget in 1948, and continued to be produced in small quantities in the 1970s and 1980s. The Piaget Polo collection was an especially fine showcase for Piaget’s skeletonization expertise, among the most famous being Miles Davis’s 1984 Piaget Polo (see the piece here). In the early 2000s more and more openwork dials were combined with the Maison’s horological innovations – like the 600P Tourbillon or the Piaget Polo Skeleton.
The novelty has an elegant yet somewhat edgy look with the jet-black finish. Its new construction is a special titanium container that houses the ceramic case and components. The titanium container is treated with black DLC to match the dark profile of the watch’s ceramic components, which includes a two-part case, crown and bezel. The case is 42mm with a thickness of just 7.5mm and it is complemented by the SingleTouch interchangeable strap system – on the pictures with a black rubber strap (the watch will be delivered with a second blue rubber strap).
The Piaget Polo Skeleton Ceramic is powered by the Manufacture 1200S1 ultra-thin self-winding calibre, with different hues of grey and blue accents and with the Piaget logo on the oscillating weight.
Piaget Private Collection
Piaget has always been a design driven brand with characteristic and thus unmistakable forms. Throughout the decades the company released many icons and very unique, interesting designs. Many of the most recognisable Piaget pieces are featuring dials made of ornamental stone. At the event guests had the chance to admire many creations from different era of the brand.
Photo credits: Loupiosity.com
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