HOUSE OF GOLD

By the 1950s the family-run company had become a Maison, garnering a global reputation for excellence and innovation that was sealed by their development, in 1957, of an ultra-thin movement, the 9P, a masterpiece of precision that changed the course of Swiss watchmaking history and the fortunes of Piaget. 

The slenderness of the movement stimulated all kinds of ideas for new designs, unleashing the audacious creativity that was to become a Piaget signature. The company now had the freedom to create its own style, and in 1957, under the inspired direction of Gerald and Valentin Piaget, made the decision to work only with precious metals, gold and platinum. Before venturing further into the realm of the jewellery watch, through dials of coloured hardstones and gold bracelets.

So much so that the dramatic watches in the 21st century collection were hailed in the press as the watches ‘of the international elite’.

Instinctively, with acute antennae, Piaget understood that gold embodied the spirit of the age : the fading formality of the ‘50s, new wealth, new social order, youthquake, Studio 54, hippie-luxe and the glittering international circle of artists, musicians, models, actors, fashion designers that made up Piaget’s elite clientele, the Piaget Society.

This treatment broke with entrenched traditions of smooth, polished surfaces, of gold as a supporting act to gemstones, turning gold from a structural necessity into the main event, a thrillingly expressive, decorative feature in its own right. The rhythmic, fluid Decor Palace engraving requires a very particular skill. 

The grooves and lines of different depths and thicknesses, flowing in slightly different directions, are incised into the gold, by hand, using the sharp tip of a burin, one line at a time, to obtain the desired effect. Gold shavings are gently blown away from the surface by the goldsmith after each gesture. While the overall effect is cohesive and distinctive, each goldsmith has his or her own technique, maybe exerting different pressure, working at different angles, so that each Decor Palace ornamentation is entirely individual. 

Radiance becomes a recurring theme in Piaget artistry, seen to perfection in the use of marquise-cut diamonds, arranged around a Limelight Gala dial for example, like the rays of the sun.

Experienced, skilled artisans hand-work gold to celebrate its extraordinary, emotive, deliquescent qualities : in Piaget’s specialist Métiers d‘Or ateliers, gold is modelled, sculpted, engraved, woven, buffed, brushed, polished and articulated, to bring out richness and refinement, to play with light, texture, dynamism.

In the late 60s, Yves Piaget, who moved in artistic circles, wanted the world to understand that the dramatically new Piaget creations were contemporary works of art. He nurtured a connection with art and artists, starting with Dali. In 1967, Piaget collaborated with Dali on an exclusive collection of watches and jewellery incorporating the artist’s Dali d’Or coins. 

The collection harked back to Piaget’s early coin watches, a huge vogue in the 1950s, in which gold coins, of all countries and denominations, formed dial covers, usually on gold bracelets. The Piaget Dali d’or collection was launched with much theatrical fanfare in the Hotel Meurice, Paris, with Dali, enthroned in a transparent chair, as if suspended in mid-air.  

The Piaget Polo appealed to Piaget’s clientele of glitterati, many of whom, like Yves Piaget himself, played or watched polo, the sport of kings. With a case shaped between a circle and a square, the Piaget Polo captured the unisex zeitgeist of the 1970s, with models for both men and women.

At the same time the new watch encapsulated the high-octane glamour and hedonistic lifestyle of the international polo set, as they travelled around the world, from match to match.

Made entirely of solid 18 carat gold, the case and bracelet were totally integrated, more seamlessly than ever before, in a sleek, streamlined, yet fluid and voluptuous design. The overall effect was as if the watch was crafted from a single cast of gold.

In true Piaget style, the artisans played with texture, contrasting the highly polished gadroons with the satin-brushed finish of the links. The Piaget Polo 79 quickly became a status symbol amongst the jet set elite, a badge of belonging to the Piaget society, while the authenticity of the concept of the watch was underlined by Piaget’s sponsorship of the Palm Beach Polo world cup. Today, celebrating Piaget’s 150th anniversary, the Piaget Polo 79 is reborn, as a limited edition in full gold. Reminding what the celebrated advertisements of the 80s stated, Piaget Time can only be measured in gold.