Piaget has paid tribute to its mid-century heyday, when it counted the likes of Andy Warhol, Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor among its clients, with a series of magnificent bejewelled pendant watches that give new meaning to the phrase the Swinging Sixties.

It’s a chance for the Swiss luxury brand to showcase its enduring triumvirate of skills in jewellery and watchmaking: one, its mastery of ultra-thin watch movements that ensure a lightweight, wearable result; two, its gold craftsmanship expertise from engraving to chain-making; and three, its artistry in cutting colourful hard stones such as malachite, tiger’s eye and lapis lazuli.  

These are skills that have long been a signature of the house. Jean-Bernard Forot, Piaget’s head of patrimony, says the original 1969 collection of watch sautoirs (futuristically titled The 21st Century Collection), was created during an era when the company was led by Valentin Piaget, grandson of its founder, Georges-Edouard. “Valentin was always pushing for the unexpected and never-done-before,” he says. He had first extended the boundaries of what was possible in watchmaking with the creation of the first ultra-thin movement in 1957, which was just 2mm thick. Introducing hard stones into the collection in the 1960s, he encouraged his designers to look beyond the Swiss mountains to Paris and the world of fashion for inspiration. 

The bold but beautiful watch sautoirs Piaget ended up creating combined jewellery and watchmaking in one, and were perfect for the creative jet set at the time. Fast forward to 2023, and Piaget has created watch pendants for a new generation. “They keep the spirit of the early creations but we’ve added diamonds to incredible effect,” says Forot. It just goes to show that the pendulum of fashion is in full swing.