Piaget or the art of Extraleganza for 150 years

In 1874, watchmaking enthusiast Georges-Edouard Piaget was just 19 years old, yet he had already set up his first workshop on the family farm in La Côte-aux-Fées, in the canton of Neuchâtel. He devoted himself to creating high-precision movements and components. Even in his early days, his motto, “always do better than necessary”, encouraged him to adopt an attitude of surpassing himself.

An evolution
Piaget grew under the leadership of Timothée Piaget, son of Georges-Edouard. He transformed the company from a movement manufacturer into a creator of luxury wristwatches and pocket watches. In 1943, the brand was registered and two years later, a new Manufacture was born in La Côte-aux-Fées. This growth was passed on to the third generation of the Piaget family, Gérald and Valentin Piaget.

The ultra-thin revolution
The obsession with ultra-thinness began with Valentin Piaget, who pursued this elegant technical feature and consolidated it as a brand signature.. In 1957, mechanical manual-winding Calibre 9P placed Piaget front and centre on the ultra-thin movement scene, causing a sensation at the Basel Fair. In 1960, the journey continued with the ingenious micro-rotor concept paving the way for the creation of the world’s thinnest self-winding movement, Calibre 12P. Piaget thus established itself as the benchmark for elegance in the field of ultra-thin men’s watches.

Dedication to haute joaillerie
In 1959, the first “Salon Piaget” was opened in Geneva, a welcoming venue where the Maison shared its creativity and expertise. The first luxury jewellery creations rubbed shoulders with refined timepieces. Geneva was also home to the Piaget workshops, specialising in goldsmithing and gemsetting, enabling the brand to master every aspect of the production of fine timepieces.

Bold styling
In 1963, Valentin Piaget challenged the Maison’s designers to “do what has never been done before”. This new motto caused a sensation when the first timepieces with stones assembled on their dials were produced. The brightly coloured “21st Century Collection” defined its era and took this idea a step further. These bold, glamorous designs attracted the attention of celebrities such as Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren. The foundations of great friendships with artists were laid, starting with Salvador Dalí in 1967.

Enter the Piaget society
Piaget became synonymous with elegance and luxury under the fourth generation of the family with Yves Piaget. Piaget evenings were truly unmissable events. In 1979, when Yves Piaget was 37, he developed a passion for horses. In a bid to conquer the American market, he launched the Polo model, which reflected the casual elegance of the age. This timepiece quickly became the emblem of an era of luxury and forever linked the brand to polo, the sport of kings.

A vibrant era
At the end of the 20^th century, the Possession collection stimulated Piaget’s artistic spirit through playful creations that expressed complete mastery of the expertise developed by the Maison. From luxury watches to fascinating haute joaillerie, this collection heralded the future of Piaget and the beginning of the new century. It also gave birth to the Altiplano, an ultra-thin watch named after a South American plateau. In 2001, Piaget opened a new workshop in Plan-les-Ouates, sowing the seeds of an exciting future.

Piaget continues to cultivate the art of L’Extraleganza
In 2024, the Geneva-based Maison celebrated 15 decades with a series of events organised in special locations across its various markets. Last September, it welcomed a large number of guests to the magnificent Signau House & Garden in Zurich, where visitors were able to discover an array of vintage timepieces and jewellery. Specialising in the production of chains, the firm also showcased the art it has cultivated over the years.

Throughout the year, Piaget unveiled numerous creations celebrating its 150 years of existence, including the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, a capsule collection of Possession rings, new editions of the Polo – and most recently the unprecedented Piaget Andy Warhol.

Created in 1972 and produced for less than a decade before its revival in 2014, this elegant masterpiece is now synonymous with the artist and cultural icon, Andy Warhol (1928-1987). A friend of the Maison who was a key member of the Piaget Society, Andy Warhol owned no less than seven Piaget watches. Among this eclectic collection, the watch that he is most associated with is the era-defining Beta21 movement, previously named the Black Tie watch. With its daring and bold 45mm-diameter cushion-shape case, which is elegantly ringed with signature gadroons, the design has become a collector reference – coveted by watch enthusiasts all over the world.

Now, thanks to an official new collaboration under license with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Piaget and the Foundation have formally renamed this timepiece after the famous artist. The first creation celebrating this exciting union is a new and contemporary design interpretation: the Andy Warhol Clou de Paris watch. Featuring a shimmering hobnail-pattern finish on the case, the model is further complemented by Piaget’s enhanced Made to Order personalisation service, inviting collectors to create their very own Andy Warhol watch.

October 31, 2024