Piaget Pocket Watches

Although many know Piaget for its haute joaillerie, it began as a watchmaking venture in the charmingly named Swiss town of La Côte-aux-Fées. Georges-Édouard Piaget started as a maker of watch movements, founding his firm in 1874. By the 1920s, the company had become a purveyor of luxury timepieces, and its expertise in movements would prove one of its defining strengths.

In 1957, the house introduced the Calibre 9P. Just two millimeters thick, it was then the thinnest hand-wound movement in the world. Three years later, Piaget announced the Calibre 12P, the world’s thinnest automatic movement, at 2.3 mm.

With these ultra-thin movements at their disposal, the brand’s designers were free to create imaginative pieces with little concern for size. At the same time, Piaget was expanding its focus with new ateliers devoted to jewelry making. The influence of the jewelry workshops on the watch business led to some spectacular designs for both women and men.

In the 1960s, Piaget debuted watches with dials made from semiprecious hard stones like lapis lazuli, jade, turquoise and tiger’s-eye, capturing the attention of Jackie Kennedy and other style arbiters. It also introduced the cuff watch — a wide bracelet surrounding a colorful stone dial. In 1979, the company unveiled the Polo, its first luxury sports watch. The horizontal gold bars composing the band didn’t stop at the case; they also formed the dial, allowing the Fort Knox motif to continue seamlessly around the wrist.

Yves Piaget, the founder’s great-grandson, described the Polo as “a watch bracelet rather than a mere wristwatch.” Today, the house still amazes in the realm of super-slim watches with its Altiplano collection. The Altiplano Ultimate Concept is the world’s thinnest mechanical watch, with a profile of just two millimeters, case and all.

Shop a collection of Piaget watches now on 1stDibs.