This year, Piaget unveils a newiteration of its beloved Possessioncollection in celebration of theMaison’s 150thanniversary.Diving into a precious libraryof savoir-faire, magneticgoldsmithing technics are revivedin this most playful of capsulecollections – a celebrationof the Maison’s enduring masteryof gold, and spirited approachto movement.
As the success of the Piaget watches grew in the 50’s, clients started to ask forbespoke jewellery to go with these watches to create parures – earrings, rings andbangles. In 1959, Piaget opened its first Salon in Geneva, a unique store with asign simply stating Piaget Horlogers Joailliers – Piaget, Watchmakers, Jewellers.Here, the Maison’s meticulously crafted watches and jewellery would be displayedside by side for the first time, heralding the successful transformation fromwatchmaker born in La Côte-Aux-Fées, specializing in ultra-thin components, towatchmaker and jeweller, right in the action.A decade later, Piaget would show its extraordinary jewellery watches, famouslyknown as the 21stCentury Collection, expressly designed to echo, if not rival, thefashions of the time. Timepieces hand woven to be worn as Swinging Sautoirswith tigers eye or lapis-lazuli dials, cage-like gold cuffs embedding coral-dialedwatch faces and studded with turquoise beads, and all comprising the bespokeslim movements. Precious and yet wearable, these jewellery watches paved theway for the Maison’s first fine jewellery collection of ultra-wearable “bijoux” : thePossession Collection, unveiled in 1990. Showcasing the Maison’s mastery ofgemsetting, goldsmithing, and technical prowess in one take, these early kineticjewels, with spinning components, were noticeable from afar. The birth of an icon.
In a year marking the 150thanniversary of the Maison, when Piaget celebrates its distinctivesignature across every facet of its creations, this special five-piece capsule collectionhighlights the Haute Couture aura of the Possession Collection. Five rings which celebratein every details the House of Gold spirit of the Maison.
PIAGET’S ATELIERSDE L’EXTRAORDINAIRE
At its heart, this precious capsule takes its inspiration from the legacy of Piaget’smaster chain makers, who ensured that not only their own expertise but thatof the master goldsmiths who came before them would live on in the nextgenerations. Like a bundle of precious braids, the Possession 150th Anniversaryring’s turning bands incorporate a clutch of beloved chain designs. From theplump, white-gold gourmette chain to the braided palm chain and the twistedtorsade, all three styles nestle harmoniously in a row, pave-set with diamondsand finished with highly polished gadroon edges. A ring to twist playfully on thefinger, the diamonds catching the light as they spin.As a nod to the Maison’s expertise in gemsetting and fearlessness with colour,the fourth ring displays a dazzling rainbow of sapphires, rubies and tsavorites.A degrade of gemstones, carefully set, which spins alongside a band of whitediamonds. Despite the fact that the Maison’s beginnings were confined to thegreen and white palette of the mountains of the Swiss Jura, Piaget was neverafraid to go beyond that, conjuring up a world of extravagant colours and intenseelegance, a combination that would become a unique hallmark :the Maison of Extraleganza.Last, but not least, an engraved snake motif, usually found on the LimelightGala watch complete the set of five jewels. With single spinning bands, eachunexpected encounter of distinct texture and pattern is an ode to the Maison’sextraordinary history of engraving gold.
Definitively luxurious, modern and playful, the Possession collection celebratingPiaget’s 150th anniversary is an ode to joy, distilling decades of creativity into oneprecious capsule. Alongside other crucial celebratory launches – the revival ofthe Piaget Polo from 1979, a new ultra-thin prowess and the new Piaget Polo 150thanniversary Limited Edition, the Possession Capsule heralds a new milestoneof Piaget’s rich history. In honor of this, the inimitable Ella Richards frontsthe new Possession campaign – the epitome of irreverent chic. The model andscion of rock and fashion royalty embodies all that Possession is – unmistakablyplayful and modern. Captured by esteemed visual artist Brigitte Niedermair, EllaRichards is the personification of where the revered Swiss Maison now sits – astoried heritage behind a decidedly modern face.
