Prepare To Be Dazzled By Piaget’s Artisan Of The Extraordinary Exhibitions

Given the number of watch companies that exist, it is rare to find one that can make entire movements in-house to power its timepieces. The Swiss watch industry, as we know, relies on a system of suppliers and subcontractors delivering parts to brands whose watchmakers assemble the final watch.

So, it is even less common, then, to find a watch brand that not only masters the manufacturing side of mechanical watchmaking but also excels at artisanal crafts – stone-cutting, gem-setting, and goldsmithing. Skills like those can help transform the final timepiece into an exquisite objet d’art.

With its historical movement workshop in La-Côte-Aux-Fées and jewelry and watch manufacture at Plan-Les-Ouates in Geneva, Piaget is one of those ultra-rare brands blessed with such two-fold virtuosity.

And it is currently celebrating its history as both a pioneering watch and movement maker and as a skilled creator of high-end jewelry and exceptional jewelry watches by putting on simultaneous exhibitions at its Geneva and Zurich boutiques.
 

Entitled “Artisan of the Extraordinary,” the event showcases a number of exceptional jewelry and non-jewelry pieces that Piaget started making at the dawn of the 1960s, fueled by the daring vision of Valentin Piaget, grandson of company founder Georges-Edouard Piaget, and the cultural and creative revolution that unfolded in this decade.
 

Visitors to the exhibitions can marvel at several spectacular pieces in a range of styles – “regular” watches, necklace watches, bracelet watches, and cuff watches. Moreover, the models on display feature resplendent dials, bezels, cabochons, and beads crafted from the likes of jade, coral, lapis lazuli, tiger’s eye, malachite, and turquoise, deployed on their own or in combination with one another.
 

For each creation, the Piaget artisans who created the pieces have made deft use of the materials’ vivid color, eye-catching veins, and unique inclusions.
 

In addition to these remarkable creations, the exhibition also features other items evoking this golden age of extravagant creativity, including promotional poster artwork from the period and an original catalog for Piaget’s customization program at the time, Style Selector.
 

Understanding that bespoke features and unique finishes were all part of the luxury experience, Piaget introduced its Style Selector in the 1960s to offer customers the possibility of choosing the shape of their watch case, dial type, bracelet and the extent of the gem-setting.
 

It was a successful precursor to Piaget’s current bespoke service, Infinitely Personal, which gives clients the chance to customize either an Altiplano Tourbillon or Altiplano Ultimate Concept, with thousands of permutations on offer.