It's a vanished era, made up of carefreeness, extroverted elegance, champagne, tuxedos, dresses, evenings... and polo shirts.
That of a brilliant and cultured jet set made up of captains of industry, millionaires and other stars of show business who, with the rise of airliners in the 1960s, traveled as a tribe from Palm Beach to Gstaad and Monaco… These happy few, Yves Piaget, great-grandson of the founder, Georges-Édouard Piaget, knows them well, meeting them on his journeys, according to the leisure activities of some, the holidays of others.
So much so that we will end up talking about a “Piaget Society”, whose privileged members enjoy life as much as their success allows.
“Yves Piaget was marketing director before taking charge of the brand.
He traveled a lot, particularly to the USA, where he met clients,
explains Jean-Bernard Forot, heritage director.
There, he realized that American luxury was not the same as in Europe, that customers had a much more relaxed way of consuming luxury products.
This is what we call “casual chic”.
Well-being and sport are also part of the new behaviors of this elite.
»
The new Piaget Polo 79 and an old Piaget poster.
Clément Rousset - Studio Con
In the 1970s, the Swiss manufacturer, which moved after the war from producing calibers to creating timepieces and jewelry, was considered the leader in ultra-thin watches for men and women.
In 1976, while the sector was facing the invasion of Japanese quartz, Piaget knew how to negotiate this perilous shift, and developed the first ultra-thin quartz movement, the 7P, then integrated into various watches of the house.
In 1979, he notably beat the heart of the new in-house model, the Polo.
A watch forged in 125 grams of solid gold!
“A response to our customers who like to do more and more sport and want to be exquisite, wearing dress watches, even when practicing their discipline
,” Yves Piaget explained at the time.
We therefore created this waterproof and shock-resistant sports line.
»
The new Piaget Polo 79 and a vintage advertisement.
Clément Rousset - Studio Con
This proudly elitist gold watch was presented at its launch as the most expensive in the world, on the wise advice of the brand's American agent, Gedalio Grinberg.
It is also he who will ensure that, for the first time, the house baptizes his creation.
A name that echoes the competitions sponsored by the brand since 1976.
“
Until then, none had a name, just a reference number and a bracelet number,”
explains Jean-Bernard Forot
.
The idea of this “casual chic” watch clearly intended for the American market is that of Yves, who, after a trip to the United States, will convince his father
(Valentin Piaget, Editor's note)
and his uncle
(Gérald Piaget).
He will even say that it is a bracelet watch and not a wristwatch.
»
The success of this timepiece was immediate, adorning the wrist of Ursula Andress during the Piaget World Cup polo event in 1983, who would become its de facto – and charming – ambassador.
Andy Warhol, Sammy Davis Jr, Roger Moore and Björn Borg will also contribute to making both the Piaget house shine and this Polo, whose bracelet has been so skillfully worked that it seems to have been sculpted from a single block of gold.
Over the years, the house has released the model in numerous variations: round, square, gem-set, two-tone gold, time only, perpetual calendar...
“Piaget's strength is also to have immediately offered it for men and women,
underlines Jean-Bernard Forot.
If most competitors were focused on their male customers and the movement, at Piaget, it was the style that was the quintessence of the creations, like the watches designed for women, like the Gala, launched in 1973. With the Polo, the brand will even invent “couples offers”.
»
The new Piaget Polo 79. Clément Rousset - Studio Con
Today, forty-five years after its creation, this historic timepiece is reborn under the name of Piaget Polo 79. And while many people offer steel watches at a high price, this one was like once entirely forged in precious metal!
Its design also remains as close as possible to the original, although with some subtle updates.
“It’s Proust’s madeleine from a carefree period that we are relaunching according to today’s standards, in terms of size, movement, water resistance,”
explains Benjamin Comar, president of Piaget.
This watch with its gadroon bracelet is, in my opinion, one of the house's most iconic creations in mixed watchmaking.
»
A notable change, the quartz caliber this time gives way to an ultra-thin 1200P1 manufacture caliber with automatic winding, which can be admired through the glass back of a case slightly enlarged to 38 mm, still in 18 carat gold.
“We find in this model a distinction that has disappeared and the flamboyance of the Piaget Society,”
concludes Benjamin Comar.
This Polo knows how to be showy and elegant at the same time, in yellow gold but still very chic!
Our gold technique is unique, as is our bracelet know-how.
This one, with its gadroons, is absolutely magnificent, it creates the fluidity of the room.
It's in a way our own AI: the artisanal intelligence of the Piaget workshops... This house, which was initially a movement manufacturer, could have only made very classic watchmaking.
On the contrary, Yves like Valentin Piaget wanted to put their technical expertise at the service of strong design and creativity.
Whether with the cuffs, the hard stone dials, much thicker than the metal ones of the time, or by creating a movement only 2 mm thick from 1957."