Watches And Wonders 2024: Piaget Gives In To Its Most Whimsical Imagination with Haute Joaillerie Inspired Watches

Is it a watch? Or is it a piece of jewellery? With Piaget’s expertise in blurring the lines between watches and jewellery, one can never really tell. Known for its expertise in creating flamboyant, whimsical creations that effortlessly combine the technical prowess of watchmaking with the delicate artistry of jewellery creations, Piaget watches are a treat to the witness. For Watches and Wonders 2024, Piaget celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Maison by expanding on 2023’s revival of its most iconic High Jewellery Watches signatures. The ground-breaking and hypnotic cuff watches and Swinging Sautoir first introduced in 1969 gets an haute horlogerie makeover while the audaciously bold Aura watch, launched in 1989 redefines elegance in graduating shades of pink gemstones.  

Cuffing Season
Showcasing its mastery in the use of colour and textured gold, Piaget’s cuff watch, a boldly-scaled style was launched in 1969 and only continued to grow in exuberance and extravagance in terms of size and materials. These timepieces featured graphic gold openwork, heavily textured gold bracelets and vibrant coloured dials. Such was the euphoria surrounding these timepieces that they were hailed in the press as the watches ‘of the international elite.’ In the year 2023, Piaget’s Hidden Treasures cuff was awarded the GPHG’s Ladies Watch prize further cementing its status as a horological icon. At Watches And Wonders 2024, the Maison is introducing another take on this beloved timepiece. This time fans can expect the black opal dial swimming with iridescent greens and blues which isn’t so much encased as it is revealed within its hand-made gold chain cuff, each twisted individually by hand. The goldwork which seems to grow organically over the dial is coral-like in its asymmetry. 

When the first High Jewellery Aura timepiece was revealed in 1989, it sparked a frenzy of enthusiasm for the daring nature of its seamless integration of its bracelet and case entirely paved with baguette-cut diamonds, proving Piaget’s prowess in gem-setting. Beautiful both in and out, this exceptional timepiece boasted an ultra-thin movement, the Piaget Manufacture Ultra-thin manual winding 40P, when most of the Maisons were using quartz movements for their precious watches.

Now, the Maison celebrates this precious icon with the launch of two unique pieces set with beautiful hues of rubies, pink sapphires and diamonds. Masterful cutting and setting techniques allowed Piaget to create a face of thin rubies that radiate from the center of the dial, the colour deep and saturated and beautifully juxtaposed with baguette-cut diamonds. A beautiful gradiant of colours effect is expertly achieved in the second variation, with the deep red of the rubies imperceptibly fading through to softest pink sapphires and diamonds via Piaget’s incredible colour matching. In two sizes, these audacious new additions to the Aura collection are at the very pinnacle of High Jewellery and Watchmaking. 

A Watch Around Your Neck
In an attempt to marry Haute Horlogerie and Haute Joaillerie, the Swinging Sautoir collection is the heartbeat of the brand. Giving these creations an uber contemporary take, the new Swinging Sautoir timepiece is a nod to the 1970s-era colourway of blue and green. A necklace made of malachite and turquoise beads flamboyantly radiates out from the diamond-paved set. A hand-twisted gold chain is interspersed with yellow sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds cradle the turquoise dialed watch from a duo of precious gemstones – a rare and important 29.24-carat yellow sapphire from Sri Lanka, and a 6.11-carat aquamarine, elevating the Sautoir to a High Jewellery necklace that can be worn on its own, while its watch component can be ingeniously and effortlessly unclasped to be worn on a green satin strap – an example of Piaget’s playful sensibilities. 
 

The second transformable sautoir sees a double chain including one diamond set anchored by a kaleidoscopic white opal cabochon of 11.68 cts suspending the watch case. To further elevate the piece, an exuberant tassel of diamonds, gold and chalcedony swings from a rare emerald-cut yellow sapphire, giving the whole piece the flamboyance that defines the Maison.

A delightful combination of artistic daring and material mastery, Piaget watches have embodied the art of watchmaking with elegance and ingenuity. Its artisans are not simply watchmakers and jewellers, they are watchmakers who became jewellers. But it is artistry that defines the difference between a craftsperson and a Piaget artisan; the unique, individual touch of each of the house’s goldsmiths and gem setters, combining to infuse precious timepieces with the Maison’s most beloved High Jewellery codes; originality, daring, and the most rarefied of precious materials.