Extremely Piaget Collection: Diamonds, Gold…and Lots of Colour

Back in the 60s and 70s, when the Piaget family stayed at the French Riviera, the relation between artists, celebrities and jewellery brands was based on friendship rather than business. VIPs would buy sophisticated jewellery and elegant watches from Piaget just because they liked them and not because they were representing the brand. The life of celebrities and the upper class in general was filled with never-ending parties and this explains why many photographs taken during the 60s and 70s show the celebrities having a good time – there were no paparazzi hounding them with their cameras. And this glamorous and joyful image is what Piaget brings to the fore through its latest high jewellery collection ‘Extremely Piaget.’

In this interview, Piaget’s Jewellery Marketing Director Jean-Bernard Forot talks about the brand’s historical past, signature techniques and the change in aesthetics of wearing jewellery.

J-BF: To create such a collection it took us two years – approximately six months to design, six months to source the stones and one year to manufacture the pieces. Putting together a collection is like making a movie – you film many parts, then you put them together to see what will create the real story.

J-BF: Unlike the 60s and 70s, today gold has to be discreet as what you put on stage is precious stones. However, before precious metal was the true luxury by itself, people enjoyed wearing and showing off yellow gold.

J-BF: Of course. Generally, there are many drawings that we do not turn into a real jewel even if they look wonderful. We just keep them. Or, if a collection sells well, we then enrich it with pieces designed for the same line.

J-BF: It is the gold and turquoise necklace that consists of gold lace. First, we had to cut the metal into many tiny parts, which were joined in a special way to give the necklace flexibility and make it move. Then we had to engrave it, but the engraving had to be really precise – if the pressure on gold is too strong then it tends to create a shadow, but if you do not engrave enough you will not see the light. So, there is in fact only one person who engraved all these pieces with his hand. Our engraver is in his late 40s now, but at the very young age at 14, he decided that he would like to be an engraver.

J-BF: Yes. The marquise-cut diamond is Piaget’s signature – no other brand has tried to explore it to the extent that Piaget has. We have been using these diamonds since the very beginning in our designs and this is why you see many of them in our ‘Extremely Piaget’ collection.

J-BF: It is a very special setting typical of Piaget perfected in the 60s, wherein all the stones are calibrated to follow the design. Named after petticoats that were formerly used to make Haute Couture dresses sway, the technique is used to create an appearance of a moving piece of fabric. In one of our rings, we have used baguette-cut diamonds by setting them side by side with just one prong holding each stone at the end. All the stones are measured and cut to perfection. Else, it would have been impossible to set the last diamond in.

As many as 125 ‘Extremely Piaget’ creations marked the 140th anniversary of the jewellery house’s excellence in design and creation of fine jewellery and watchmaking. We eagerly await glimpses of many more such courageous designs and spectacular pieces from Maison Piaget.

Photos: Ekaterina Aleksandrova and Piaget