Sixtie, Essentia, Swinging Sautoirs: Piaget’s Ode To Turquoise

A shapeshifting symphony of joyous colour unfolds as Piaget unveils a bold new chapter in its legacy of artistry and exuberance. At the heart of this year’s creations is The Sixtie watch in turquoise. An ornamental stone revered across cultures and now reimagined through jewellery watches that epitomise the Maison’s unrivalled craftsmanship, flair for colour, and love of daring forms. From the sculptural elegance of the new Sixtie, to the cascading Swinging Sautoirs, Piaget once again proves that time is most captivating when it is infused with light, colour, and creativity.

For millennia, turquoise has been more than just a gem. Ancient Egyptians prized it as a stone of renewal and protection, while the Aztecs regarded it as the “stone of the gods.” Across cultures, its luminous blue-green surface evoked the life-giving forces of sky and water. In colour theory, turquoise sits at the intersection of calm and vitality balancing the serenity of blue with the invigorating energy of green. It is a colour that represents clarity, healing, and creativity, often associated with emotional balance and the ability to spark joy. In design, it draws the eye as both soothing and electrifying, a chromatic paradox that captures attention while bringing harmony.

It was precisely this magnetic duality that drew Piaget to turquoise in the early 1960s. The Maison pioneered its use in ornamental stone dials as early as 1963, pairing the vibrant intensity of turquoise with its groundbreaking ultra-thin watch movements. These dials, audacious in their colour and artistry, transformed the face of luxury watchmaking, establishing Piaget not only as a master watchmaker but also as a jeweller whose creations were artworks for the wrist. Inspired by the glamour of the French Riviera, Piaget’s turquoise watches embodied the free-thinking spirit of the 1960s—an era that celebrated convention-defying style and bold self-expression.

A Dazzling Return

Today, Piaget renews its love affair with turquoise through its latest creations. The new Sixtie collection, introduced at Watches and Wonders, distils the Maison’s mastery of proportion into a striking silhouette. Its gently tapering trapezoidal dial, now clad in pure turquoise, glows in all its unadorned splendour without indexes paying homage to Piaget’s groundbreaking 21st Century Collection of 1969. Back then, visionary designer Jean-Claude Gueit reimagined timepieces as sculptural statements, bridging the worlds of watchmaking, jewellery, and fashion. Wide openwork cuffs, dazzling Swinging Sautoirs, and bold shapes defined that era, all enriched by Piaget’s innovative use of colour and goldsmithing.

The new Sixtie echoes that golden age with its gleaming gadrooned bezel, a design that calls back to Piaget’s retro TV screen-shaped watch famously worn by Andy Warhol, now renamed in honour of the King of Pop Art. In its modern form, the Sixtie’s trapezoidal dial flows seamlessly into a meticulously crafted five-row gold bracelet. Together with the chromatic intensity of turquoise, it creates a timepiece that is simultaneously a jewel and a watch—a wearable sculpture radiating glamour and vitality.

Piaget’s legacy of avant-garde design continues in the Sixtie Swinging Sautoir. Based on sketches drawn directly into the pages of fashion magazines, this necklace-watch carries a turquoise trapezoid dial framed by diamond-set, hand-twisted gold. Its cascading design mirrors gentle ripples of water, enhanced by the free movement of its diamond tassel. It is at once casual and dazzling, echoing the 1960s vision of watches as accessories of personal style rather than purely instruments of time.

Another interpretation of the Swinging Sautoir embraces a knotted rope of twisted gold, which encircles a turquoise trapezoidal dial. Intricately hand-crafted to look effortless, this piece epitomises Piaget’s philosophy of adornment, where jewellery and timepiece become inseparable, sculptural extensions of the wearer’s individuality.

Completing the collection is the Essentia watch, a contemporary ode to turquoise. Its irregular, organic case frames a turquoise dial alive with natural patterns and rich colour, encircled by polished gold and shimmering diamonds. Flowing into a chain-link bracelet that hugs the wrist like a precious talisman, Essentia combines Piaget’s savoir-faire in chainmaking with the sensuality of form inspired by nature itself. Haute Couture for the wrist, it celebrates jewellery-watchmaking at its boldest and most joyful.

The Language of Colour

Across the collection, turquoise is not just a decorative element but a language of expression. It radiates calm yet energises, symbolises luxury yet remains deeply tied to natural beauty. In colour theory, turquoise is believed to stimulate communication, balance emotions, and inspire creativity—a fitting choice for a Maison that has always embraced dialogue between art, design, and watchmaking. Each dial becomes not just a surface but an emotional canvas, where the interplay of blue and green mirrors the interplay of heritage and innovation at Piaget.

From the gadrooned bezels to the high-polish gold links, from cascading sautoirs to free-flowing bracelets, Piaget’s new turquoise creations reflect a heritage born in the free-spirited 1960s, now reimagined for a new generation of connoisseurs. They are bold yet elegant, timeless yet contemporary, capturing the enduring power of turquoise as both a colour and a stone: a symbol of life, light, and joy.