Piaget

For a truly elegant watch you can always rely on the Piaget Altiplano. It looks good on both men and women, and comes in a variety of styles - each in a thin, round case. For 2011 the Altiplano gets a full pave (diamond covered) dial with matching diamond covered bezel. The diamonds are brilliant-cut and applied in a concentric circle pattern. Depending on the model, the pieces will have between 574-735 diamonds on them.

What are the two versions? Piaget offers the Altiplano Pave Dial watch in a 34mm wide or 38mm wide 18k gold case. The 34mm wide version is clearly a women's model, while the 38mm wide version is for either men or women. There are so many diamonds on the dial that the sheer level of the sparkle is almost distracting! Piaget even had to apply their logo on the bottom of the sapphire crystal as there was no room on the bejeweled face. Still, the dials are legible thanks to the white gold baton style hour markers and dauphine hour and minute hand. The design offers a pleasing mix of jewelry and minimalism.

There are more diamonds on the buckle of the white or black alligator strap. As is the case with all Altiplano watches, this one is very thin. The Piaget made calber 430P manually wound movement is just 2.1mm thick, and the case is not that much thicker. Showy, but still elegant, the Piaget Altiplano Pave Dial watch is a great item for special occasions or when you are try to be less than subtle on a first date.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Renowned Swiss watchmaker Piaget took over Palm Beach and Wellington, Florida recently to celebrate the brand's longtime commitment to the sport of polo.

Among the posh events was a garden party presenting the band's newest collection at the Flagler Museum, and an intimate field-side dinner at the International Polo Club Palm Beach to present the new Pilarà-Piaget polo team.

The festivities concluded with the final match of the Piaget Gold Cup at the Polo Club, attended by American Beauty actress Mena Suvari and followed by an exclusive champagne reception outside the 7th Chukker.

On display for the first time in the U.S. were the latest editions to the Piaget Polo FortyFive collection including two new models in rose gold and titanium, one featuring Piaget's manufactured chronograph movement and the other equipped with Piaget's in-house perpetual calendar movement.

Audi's polo team won the Gold Cup and each of the victorious players got to take home a Piaget
Polo FortyFive watch.

With a series of events that included the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, a Champagne toast at their New York boutique, and an outdoor celebration in Palm Beach, Piaget launched their spring-themed Limelight Garden Party collection.

In New York, the Piaget boutique on Fifth Avenue took on a terrarium look for the evening's event, with the collection set in cases decorated to look like a wood nymph's jewelry box.

Cradled amongst the various faux flora, 18-white gold pieces sparkled under the display lights.

A miniature, diamond-encrusted bird perched itself on a ring, seemingly ready to dip its beak into a cushion-cut rubellite gem. Other birds perched on a white gold sprig of diamonds and pearls, while a floral ring bloomed diamonds, emeralds and pink sapphires. One necklace's 289 brilliant-cut diamonds seems to represent drops of dew caught on a diaphanous spider web. Another sprouted buds of pink tourmaline and pink sapphires, reminders that spring is, finally, here at least.

(On view by appointment only.)

At SIHH 2011 I got sneak peak at Piaget's upcoming Polo FortyFive Perpetual Calendar watch. The Piaget Polo FortyFive watch that came out a few years ago has been a remarkable success for the brand in giving it a sport's watch. With chronograph and three-hand variants available, Piaget has designed a Polo FortyFive model with an in-house made perpetual calendar automatic movement.

With an impressive level of symmetry, the dial displays the time, retrograde date, retrograde day of the week, month, power reserve indicator for the movement, time with subsidiary seconds, second timezone, leap-year indicator, and a clever moon phase indicator. All on the dial that is is a few shades of black with while and rose gold.

The 45mm wide case is in titanium with 18k rose gold accents. More 18k rose gold is used on the dial for the hands and some dial rings. At first glance the watch looks a bit like a complex chronograph but actually has an impressive level of features in it. A very utilitarian touch that I appreciate is labeled inset pushers on the side of the case. Perpetual calendar watches often have pin pushers on the side of the case to adjust the calendar functions. Piaget thoughtfully opted to label them to make adjusting the watch less burdensome. See more images of this upcoming Piaget Polo FortyFive watch in the gallery below.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Piaget has a long history with ultra-thin mechanical watch movements. They pride themselves on having records such as the thinnest manually wound movement, as well as the thinnest automatic movement. Now they have created the thinnest manually wound movement with a tourbillon escapement. Considered to be very complex and hard to make, tourbillons aren't usually attempted in thin variants.

Piaget has succeeded in making its Caliber 600P movement just 3.5mm thick - which includes skeletonized bridges and a flying tourbillon. The movement is seen here in mostly 18k rose gold with diamonds set into much of the mainplate. The movement is 22.4mm wide by 28.64mm tall, has a power reserve of 40 hours, and looks to be made to fit in rectangle Piaget Emperador style watch cases. You can click "READ MORE" below to see a new Piaget promotional video that showcases the watch as well as the making of the movement.

Ultra-thin tourbillon movements are destined to remain highly niche, even more so that regular tourbillon, but it makes sense for Piaget to hold the honor (at this time) of making the thinnest one around. The 600P is an horological achievement under Piaget's belts, but in 2011 the Swiss brand will be setting another record with a tourbillon movement.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

I am not a woman, nor do I wear rings, but I will be the first to admit these are very cool. They are so cool, I think most people will almost forget these are high-end luxury goods. From the Limelight collection by Piaget, these are a new line of cocktail rings that actually look like real cocktail drinks. And I've always wondered why they were called cocktail rings... These rings are very fun and well designed. Piaget did an excellent job replicating the look of popular cocktail drinks in jewelry.

There are six rings in this particular Limelight collection, each has a name of a drink. Seen here is the Piaget Limelight Cocktail Mojito ring. It is in 18k white gold with 182 diamonds (1.52 carats). The "drink" itself is a 24 carat cushion-cut green tourmaline, with a 3 carat citrine stone cut to look like a lime - covered with a white gold and tsavorite "peel.' The "mint leaves" are emeralds. Stunning and so creative!

Other rings in the collection are equally nice and use stones and gold applicable to the look of the drink. In addition the Limelight Cocktail Mojito, there is also the Whiskey on the Rocks, Cosmopolitan, White Tonic, Blue Ocean, and Blueberry Daiquiri. Truly charming - and will not be cheap.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Piaget luxury watches and jewelry finds a new home for one of its uncommon boutique stores on Bond Street in London. "Go to luxury shopping streets" around the world are filling up with not just watch stores, but brand boutique watch stores (as opposed to multi-brand stores). Richemont Group, who is the parent company of Piaget, is responsible for the majority of these locations in what can be seen as part of a new marketing and sales strategy. For consumers, it helps showcase the brands as a destination versus just one product out of many in a store.

The Piaget boutique on Bond street for example is able to tell the whole story of the brand's current collection - which ranges from sophisticated to sporty men's pieces, as well as extremely artistic high-end jewelry watches for women. From a distribution perspective, such boutiques serve another potential purpose. As Richemont gears up more brands for online sales, boutique stores double as fulfillment centers for shipping product. This way, Piaget has a local distribution center for online sales made in the UK. This would not be possible or as simple with the traditional model that includes selling product to independent third-party retailers. As far as I know, Piaget is not yet a brand that is available for sale online, but given the direction sister Richemont brands are taking - it could very well be a reality sooner than later.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

The Biennale de Antiquaires is a special art and luxury event the displays high-end antiques, jewelry, and fine art. This month at the 25th opening of the event Piaget jewelry watches will be featured. Above are just two examples of the types of Piaget haute joaillerie watches that you can view there. To the right is a Piaget Ref. G0A33190 in white gold with 154 diamonds in an almost belle epoque style - that is lovely and classic. To the left is a more ostentatious Piaget Miss Protocole ref. G0A30160 watch also in white gold with over 28 carats of diamonds. I features interchangeable straps, here with a wild purple with feathers and beads satin strap.

Displayed at the Biennale de Antiquaires (September 15-22, 2010) will be many other such Piaget luxury jewelery watches with incredible designs. These are not only watches, but also jewelry, as well as fine art. But of course they don't come cheap. Click on the link above for more information about the Paris held event.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

The idea of a timepiece being suitable for a single, specific event such as a Jazz Party is cute, but not at Piaget prices. But that it seems, is what Piaget's presentation on the Limelight Jazz Party women's is all about. Well, you can forget that - these watches are suitable for a few other types of jazz or party events.Though the swoopy lines of the timepieces are jazzy, I will have to hand it to the Piaget designers for that.

Complex lines dominate the watches in a way that is more emotional that elegant. The two watches here represent the more sober side of Piano music (the black dialed model with the curved "piano key" style diamonds, as well as the fluid light movement of music (the lighter version with intersecting lines of diamond waves). These high-society part pieces are certainly unique and bestow up a lady wearer a certain type of unique energy often absent from high-end chic evening wear.

Suitable for daily wear? I think not. Not only is the style anything but "anytime," but you don't want to be toting around 3 or 4 carats of diamonds on your wrist all the time. The watches themselves are part of the Piaget Limelight collection and are in 18k white gold with a ton of diamonds each. They are powered by Piaget caliber 56P quartz movements, and should be available in highly limited quantities to those looking to jazz up their ultra-formal wear.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

20 years ago Piaget released the "Possession" watch collection for women. Like many of their older collection, Piaget has been reinterpreting them for the modern market. This is the most modern version of the Possession watch for women and it displays a simple form of refinement that you'll find (for example) in many Cartier watches that have been around for a long time. Piaget does this as well aptly. Despite being a mature design, it has a youthful playfulness that is enhanced by its high-luxury character. The case is offered in 18k white gold, while the bezel is set with 37 high-quality diamonds. The diamond ring actually spins around giving the wearer something to play with. Piaget has also designed the satin strap to be interchangeable. The round lugless case has a set of two oblong circles that make up the dial frame - offering an unusual, and sophisticated look. Easy to read for a women's watch of this ilk, the dauphine style hands are complimented with art deco style Roman numerals. Inside the case is a Swiss quartz movement. Very nicely done for simple style, with the design and emotion you can expect from Piaget.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

New from the Limelight collection is the Limelight City watch. This throw-back style model is directly inspired by a similar cushion-cased Piaget watch from the 1960s - an era which is hot in terms of watch style these days. The sideways cushion style is quite flattering to the wrist, and the mixture of brush and polished surfaces (with the added diamond decoration) feels classic, and uncommon in women's watches. A lot of gold from the 1960s was textured in strange ways - as though people were simply tired of mere mirror polished surfaces. The case is in either 18k pink or white gold, with over 100 diamonds included on the dial and dial. There is a sort of bulbous friendliness to the design that would otherwise feel a bit cold.

Inside the watch is a Piaget manufacture made 524P automatic movement, that is visible through a sapphire caseback window. The watch comes on a few strap color choices - each being leather or reptile. The strap buckle has even more diamonds on it for decoration. As a compliment to today's fashionable mature women, the Limelight City is an intriguing choice. Timeless in style yes, but clearly a token nod to another era.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

As you no doubt recall from my colleague Jeffrey Slonim's RSVIP column the other day, luxury Swiss watchmaker Piaget was the official timekeeper of the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in New York City last weekend where Prince Harry joined the sport. In celebration of this year's event, Piaget created a limited edition version of its Piaget Polo FortyFive Chronograph to be awarded as the prize for the winning team. Inspired by the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, the specially designed timepiece features the iconic "Clicquot Yellow" on its signature sub-dials and is designated "New York." Only 10 examples have been produced.

While Piaget ambassador and captain of Prince Harry's team, Nick Roldan, debuted the new watch to press at the event, the prize ultimately went to Team Blackwatch who won in a 6–5 victory. Team captain Nacho Figueras graciously accepted the award (above) and then promised to auction it off to raise money for American Friends of Sentebale, Prince Harry's charity. "Piaget has a long history with polo, so we are proud to commemorate our partnership with the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic by creating this very special timepiece," noted Larry Boland, President of Piaget North America. "It's certain to become a collector's item."

The story isn't about Piaget, though it mentions a watch. The story is influenced by the world and watches of Piaget. Done by one of my favorite authors of all time, Bret Easton Ellis lends his unique talent for dialog and mood to the mystique of the luxury Swiss watch brand. Ellis, acclaimed author of titles as controversial as they are fun (and complex), has just released his latest book, "Imperial Bedrooms." I haven't checked it out yet, but it is a sequel to his seminal piece "Less than Zero." For me, Ellis is best known for the masterpiece satire (in my opinion) piece, American Psycho.

Over at Nowness.com. Ellis offers this exclusive story in conjunction with the images of Douglass Friedman, an esteemed photographer who was invited to the Piaget manufacture in Switzerland. The story and the images go together, in a poetic dance of media that lends life to the Piaget name as the two talents see it. Go read the story. It will get you in the mood for his newest work, and make you want to strap on a fine watch and go love some ladies Easton Ellis style...

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

To highlight its famous watch and jewelry line, Piaget has recruited Sienna Miller to be the face of their new messaging campaign. The Possession collection has been a mainstay of Piaget for years. Offering luxury items of good taste and a timeless quality. Not just Piaget's well known evening gown gear (as I call it). Richemont Group, the parent of Piaget has been very keen on celebrity tie-ins with its brands after noticing just how much attention they get. Sometimes their choice of face to go with any particular brand... is interesting. In Piaget's opinion, Sienna Miller is "one of the most fashionable woman in the world." I don't know about that, but she is surely the type of women to get that well-to-do 30 or 40 something woman interested in Piaget. Piaget enlisted some world-class photographers and stylists for the campaign. Click on the "read more' link below to see an enlightening video talking about the making of the campaign with some nice images.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

What happens when you have a ziggurat of diamonds on a watch? Well this... For 2010 Piaget has successfully crammed in more diamonds into an Emperador style watch. It is like the difference between Wheaties and Total breakfast cereal. Total has twice (or whatever) the fiber, in the same size bowl! How does Piaget fit that much fiber, err, I mean diamonds into a watch?! Looks like it has over 1200 diamonds all over the watch. Wowy! The secret is the pyramid style "temple" design of the watch case. It actually opens up, twice. First is a little hatch over a smaller mother-of-pearl and diamond watch face. Then the watch opens up again to reveal a large face with an exposed one minute tourbillon and power reserve indicator. With this much surface space, Piaget is able to fits the hundreds of diamonds into the design of the Emperador Temple Diamonds watch.

So much jewelery, so much.. watchery. The timepiece contains a variety of stone cuts. The watch has baguette cut stones, brilliant cut stones, and one emerald cut stone that tops off the stack o' precious gems. The watch case fits the Emperador style mold, and inside the watch is two movements. The grander of the two being the tourbillon. Not too sure whether the top movement is mechanical or quartz. The purpose of a watch like this? To show off. It brings new meaning to the concept of "pyramid power." At the very least, the heap of diamonds on your wrist will get you nice tables at restaurants and extra expensive drinks at the bar. Piaget made this watch as one-off piece that went for a price that was somewhere in the rage of $3.5 million. Though their doors and arms are wide open to you should you decide to fund a second model for your personal wearing pleasure.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.