Piaget Unveils Metaphoria High Jewelry Collection
Piaget turned to Florence for the unveiling of its latest high jewelry collection as “the capital of the Renaissance,” said chief executive officer Benjamin Comar.
“This is the first big event after COVID-19; it felt natural to stage the presentation in this wonderful city as Piaget symbolizes ultimate creativity. And clients are always happy to go to Florence,” he added with a knowing smile.
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The choice in particular of the 14th-century Villa Il Salviatino in Fiesole, just outside Florence, was also entirely fitting, he added, given its beautiful frescoed rooms, its history, a view of the city’s landmark Filippo Brunelleschi dome, and, in sync with the collection inspired by nature, its expansive gardens. “It’s a place with a soul,” he said. “Our savoir faire and our vision of nature meets the Italian art.”
Offering an experience, “a souvenir” to remember is increasingly important to clients. “It’s more than just the purchase, the emotional content is very high. And it’s also a way to thank the clients for their support in addition to showing what we can do,” he said.
Comar praised Yves Piaget‘s “bold and daring” designs from 1969 as part of the “21st Century Collection” of extravagant watches with ornamental stones set into their dials, laying the groundwork for the brand’s signature style.
Now, this collection comes to life, called “Metaphoria,” a metaphor for nature and its metamorphoses, comprising 41 pieces of jewelry and 11 watches, divided in two chapters, Azureia and Beautanica, inspired by nature.
The collections are designed by creative director Stéphanie Sivrière, who stayed away from a figurative interpretation of nature, but rather turned to emblematic elements such as the flow of a waterfall, or the rays of the sun. For example, a stunning Mineralis set is reminiscent of the waters of a mountain river, an asymmetric necklace crafted from diamonds, sapphires, aquamarine and rock crystal, paired with blue sapphires in inverted settings. At the center of this unique piece sits a lagoon-blue 13.25-carat cushion-cut aquamarine. The piece is matched by earrings and rings, one of which is set with a 4.1-carat Sri Lanka sapphire.
The Foliatura jewelry watch is set with an arresting cushion-cut Colombian emerald, weighing 6.59 carats. Its white gold body reveals incredible craftsmanship, blending stylized chrysoprase leaves and intertwining diamonds against a backdrop of Decor Palace engraved gold. Placed on the lower part of the band, the watch dial allows the wearer to read the time discreetly.
Watches and jewelry are a balanced business for Piaget. Comar said the categories are increasingly seen as an investment, but also noted that he has seen “a natural change of purpose. Before they were seen more suited for special occasions, now clients buy and wear more freely not only on special occasions, for weddings and such, or as gifts from men to women.”
Piaget’s jewelry is created entirely within its atelier in Geneva, Comar said proudly, adding that it takes around 15 years to train an artisan to create the brand’s high jewelry.
He added that Piaget’s artisans start from a sketch, rather than from the stones. “This is a house of creativity and we want our designers to feel as free as possible, coming up with ideas first and then adapting the gems to the designs,” he explained. “It’s more difficult because you can’t order the stones,” he opined.
Another example of the artisans’ skills is the Alata set, where leaves are turned into gold, mother-of-pearl and diamonds in a necklace, earrings and a watch. There is also a gold and titanium earcuff on which there are gold leaves, engraved with the Decor Palace motif, gold mother-of-pearl, flecks of white gold and diamonds. In a statement ring, the leaf’s center is embellished with a pear-shaped 2.23-carat diamond. The set is completed by a cuff watch, whose body is embellished with a marquetry of mother-of-pearl and engraved gold, blended with marquise-cut diamonds.
The Aqua Summa set conveys its vision of frost and ice with the unusual pairing of aquamarine with Akoya pearls and diamonds. The collar necklace, fully articulated with an invisible clasp, shows off cerulean pear-shaped aquamarines, the largest of which weighs more than 4 carats.
Comar joined Piaget in June 2021, after years working at Cartier, Dunhill, S.T. Dupont and Chanel, where he created the watch and jewelry division. After 12 years at Chanel, in 2017 he was named CEO of Repossi.
Asia is an important market for Piaget, as are the U.S. and the Middle East, but he said he’s starting to see “a more balanced” business across geographies, “speaking to a wider clientele.” Men globally are also increasingly approaching jewelry, a trend that was started and driven by Asian clients, long used to wearing watches, rings and brooches, he said.
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