The independent watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin had mulled over all the options. He could make all of his proposed watch’s components thinner, but then some would not work as well as needed. He could make the case very strong to compensate – that was an idea worth pursuing. Gold wouldn’t be durable enough. A tungsten nickel alloy would work, although it alone would take two months of machining – and he would need to use the rare, non-magnetic variety typically used in the development of space technology.

He could also rearrange the movement’s architecture, effectively splitting the mainspring barrel – a mechanical watch’s power source – into two parts, and integrate parts of the movement directly into the caseback. The winding of what would remain a very delicate instrument would need to be outsourced to a separate, dedicated device. But it could be done.

And, in fact, it has been. Chaykin recently unveiled the result: the production version of his ThinKing mechanical watch, the world’s thinnest, at just 1.65mm deep. 'Making a watch that thin was a real challenge, but life would be very ordinary without it,' says Chaykin. 'Why do it? Because it’s like a magic trick: you know it’s there on your wrist, but you can’t feel it. Now we’re just waiting for the next guys to try to beat our record.'

Chaykin’s watch beat the record previously held by Bulgari, which in 2025 also released the world’s thinnest tourbillon movement, the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon (among our pick of the year's statement watches), at 1.85mm thick – again achieved by using the caseback as the movement’s manipulation. This, in turn, unseated Piaget’s Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, at a positively chunky 2mm.

But why this arms race for an ever-more barely-there mechanical model? After all, it’s one which, arguably, has been in play since the master watchmaker Jean-Antoine Lepine reimagined the pocket watch way back in 1765, doing away with the movement’s traditional sandwich of plates and pillars for a greatly thinned-down timepiece, with Jacques-David LeCoultre, in 1907, and Audemars Piguet, in 1938, both further revolutionising movement architecture to produce, respectively, a 1.38mm-thick pocket-watch movement and a 1.64mm-thick wristwatch movement (not including the case). Since the 1950s, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, Audemars Piguet and, latterly, Bulgari and Richard Mille have led the competition for ever more thinness.

'For watchmakers, thinness is something of an obsession, because to achieve it you have to reimagine the components and produce them in different ways, using different materials. And for the collector who understands the technical aspects, a very thin watch is a point of difference,' explains Bulgari’s product creation executive director Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani. 'For me, honestly, thinness alone adds nothing to the functionality of a watch – if it’s not automatic and robust enough for everyday life then it’s more a prototype. And we’re at a place where we could make an even thinner prototype watch, but you wouldn’t be able to touch it.'

Indeed, Stigliani adds that pursuing thinness in a watch is always a matter of compromise: you take something away here, you lose something – like a useful level of power reserve, reliability or enough rigidity – there. Further problems of functionality include, he suggests, how to attach a strap or bracelet to a very thin watch, and, invariably, its aesthetic. 'Sometimes an ultra-thin watch just looks too flat, too fragile,' he says.

These various complications are why, Stigliani suggests, makers of ultra-thin watches belong to 'a club with only a few brands for members' who like to be able to 'show the market something completely new and [for whom an ultra-thin watch] is a bit of a technical show-off too. It’s a wow moment. And the record [achieved] is another form of advertising campaign.'

Perhaps, then, we’re close to peak thin – at least until some new wonder material comes along. Chaykin says he’s working on various ideas that would allow for an even thinner mechanical watch, but concedes that 'like breaking a record in sport, each new record gets harder to beat, and tends to take much longer'. And he agrees with Stigliani that breaking records is one thing, 'but making a watch that’s wearable is something else'.

But that’s not to say that more thinness – if not of the ultra kind – doesn’t have its uses. Thomas Van Straaten, founder of VPC Watch Co, for example, has recently launched its Type 39VM, recognised as the thinnest 200m automatic dive watch on the market, at 9.34mm total thickness. He argues that, beyond the cliché of a thin watch sitting nicely under a shirt cuff ('though actually that’s quite nice’, he says), thinness does make for a more comfortable watch to wear.

'The interest in thinness now isn’t a fad,' he adds, 'but fits with a growing appreciation for the ergonomics of watch design, which is also behind the greater number of smaller watches too. And thinness has to be in balance with the rest of the design. I’m not a fan of thinness for its own sake. We could have made the Type 39 thinner [albeit at some cost to water resistance] by using a printed dial instead of one with raised indices, but it just didn’t look as good. And that matters.'

konstantinchaykin.com

In 1969, Piaget rethought the parameters of watch-wearing, introducing the ‘21st Century Collection’, where watches swung gracefully from long gold chains. Worn looped around the neck, the watches, with their ornamental stone dials, were first and foremost vivid pieces of jewellery, encapsulating Yves Piaget’s philosophy that blended both disciplines.

Now, at Watches and Wonders 2026, these swinging sautoirs are making a comeback as the Swinging Pebbles collection, with three pieces crafted in three stones, tiger’s eye, verdite and pietersite.

For Piaget, now feels like the right time to revisit the bold and fluid spirit of the original. ‘At Piaget, ornamental stones are at the heart of what we do, sometimes literally, with creations such as the Swinging Pebble, made entirely from tiger’s eye, verdite or pietersite,’ says Piaget creative director Stéphanie Sivrière. ‘I actually found the inspiration while going through our archives; in the early 1970s, our artisans made a so-called kimono pocket watch, especially designed for the Japanese market. It was sculpted from malachite; it was bold, flamboyant and singular – very Piaget.’

Each of these new pendant watches is sculpted from a single stone, before being hollowed out for the insertion of the movement, and then smoothed over with the portion of stone that is left. ‘This year, it is all about the art of colour for us; this is why I chose three ornamental stones with distinct colour,’ Sivrière adds. ‘The main challenge was to find a way to make it look seamless.’

piaget.com

For A/W 2025, high jewellery encompasses bold and colourful forms. From Fernando Jorge's fluid silhouettes to Buccellati's pop of colour and Hermès' intricately rendered cuff, it's all about the details.

For Louis Vuitton, silhouettes are oversized, while Cartier's delicately sized earrings champion the pared-back. Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co demonstrate their mastery of embellishment, while Piaget's delicate watch swinging from a necklace of precious stones rewrites jewellery rules entirely. Taken together, these pieces make for high jewellery that is exciting, bold and very modern.

This article appears in the November 2025 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands from, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 9 October. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

In the late 1950s, Piaget unveiled its ultra-thin movements (the 9P in 1957, followed by the 12P in 1960) that would later become the maison’s trademark and the cornerstone of the Altiplano collection. Piaget has now introduced two new Altiplano timepieces: the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon and the Altiplano 910P, a duo that unite ultra-thin watchmaking with a jeweller’s eye.

Discover Piaget’s two new Altiplano watches

The new models are presented as an embodiment of the company's dual expertise as both a pioneer in delicately thin watchmaking and a master of goldsmithing and jewellery design. Both new models feature a distinctive khaki green and yellow gold colour palette and nod to Piaget’s self-proclaimed ‘extraleganza’, a fusion of extravagance and elegance.

The new Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon is an interpretation of the 2024 limited edition model. The cobalt alloy case is 2.0mm thin and, for the first time, it includes a sapphire caseback, allowing a view of the Caliber 970P-UC.

The Altiplano’s cross-shaped motif is attributed on the watch’s balance wheel and screws, an intricate nod to the design heritage. It is paired with a khaki green calfskin strap with a ‘Polish Mesh’ pattern. The Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon will also be part of Piaget’s ‘Infinitely Personal’ programme, which allows clients to co-create their own timepiece with custom finishes, materials, and engravings.

At 4.3mm thin, the Altiplano 910P is a new interpretation of the maison’s ultra-thin trademark. The case is made of yellow gold, and features a khaki green dial and matching alligator strap. Mirroring the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, the 910P also features the cross-shaped motifs on the dial screws.

Piaget’s two new additions are an ode to a nearly seven-decade heritage of the Altiplano collection.

For all that mechanical watchmaking is usually about miniaturisation, sometimes its masters like to display their talents on a grander scale. In 2025, brands and collectors alike have been enticed by the showstopper appeal of the most incredible clocks –statement pieces that bring the best attributes of today’s watchmakers to room-filling stature.

It has been the same story in the vintage market. In May, Phillips sold nine Cartier clocks that it described as ‘museum grade’ across its Hong Kong and Geneva auctions. The star lot was Portico Clock No.3, a 101-year-old ornate table clock in the ‘mystery’ style for which Cartier became famous. It sold for CHF3.9m (£3.5m), and still wasn’t the top story in an auction that also saw independent watchmaker FP Journe acquire a clock it had made for Breguet in 1991, the Sympathique no.1, for CHF5.5m (£5m).

That masterpiece is destined for FP Journe’s forthcoming museum in Geneva. But others are headed for – or already reside in – private collections. At Watches and Wonders in April, Chanel showed the Diamonds Astroclock, a contemporary take on a classic planetarium style that was produced by specialist clockmaker L’Epee 1839 (recently acquired by LVMH). With the movement housed in a glass sphere, the clock celebrated the constellation of Leo, both in its timekeeping display and with a white-gold lion sculpture set with 5,037 diamonds at the clock’s base.

Astronomical timekeeping was a popular theme: Panerai showed an updated version of its Jupiterium, a 100kg perpetual calendar planetarium that celebrates the discoveries of Galileo. As brooding and modern as the Chanel piece, it features the constellations of the zodiac picked out in green Super-Luminova, in keeping with the brand’s tool-focused aesthetic.

Van Cleef & Arpels, meanwhile, opted for a more ornate approach to what it calls its latest ‘extraordinary object’. The giant table-mounted planetarium is an evolution of a decade-old design, with a stylised shooting-star motif inlaid into the pale wood and the most impossibly detailed depictions of the planets, which orbit atop a celestial plane of lapis lazuli, accompanied by a mechanical melody as a gem-set shooting star emerges from a hatch to tell the time.

It is possible, however, to create a sensational clock without amassing enormous weight or complexity. Piaget’s latest clock is described as a ‘high jewellery mobile’, and sets a golden oval, set within it a smaller oval of opal, against four counterweights, also in gold, three of which are inlaid with semiprecious stones. With each individual clock differing slightly due to the natural variation of the stones, the mobile must be balanced accordingly.

By cutting against the grain of size, heft and mechanical complexity, Piaget has shown that there is more than one way to translate the aesthetic of a fine jewellery brand into a clock, bringing elements of its 1970s and 1980s heyday that are enjoying such a moment in today’s watch market.

What is a statement watch? From big brand power to small-sized independent watchmaking, making a statement is increasingly in the mind of the wearer - whether that's going bold with size, or demonstrating a savvy technical nous or apprciation of avant-garde style. We’ve drawn together a few recent releases that put understatement to one side and embrace the potential of a watch to catch the eye and start conversation.

Piaget is paying tribute to a glorious decade with a new women’s watch line named after a significant era for the maison, Sixtie, revealed this week at Watches and Wonders 2025.

In 1969, Piaget unveiled a new collection of jewellery watches, blurring the lines of horology and accoutrements in an avant-garde melting pot of design. During the 1960s and 1970s, designer Jean-Claude Gueit eschewed the traditional language of watchmaking, choosing instead to embed dials in thickly drawn cuffs, or swing them from sensuous sautoirs. In his hands, the timepiece became deliciously hard to define.

It is a moment that Piaget’s CEO Benjamin Comar and design director for Jewellery, High Jewellery and Watchmaking, Stéphanie Sivrière, nod to now in the silhouette of this new watch. Its distinctive trapeze shape and chiselled detailing on the bezel recall the Piaget watch that belonged to Andy Warhol, while the interplay of textures and gold pays homage to a jewellery tradition

The Piaget Sixtie is available worn on the wrist, in a satin-finished or brightly coloured dial, or as an option that stays faithful to its history, worn looped around the neck.

piaget.com

The anniversary of a watch’s debut is often marked with an impressive new release, ably demonstrating the brand’s technical progression since the original’s launch. Lately though, a slew of brands have come full circle and returned to consider the founding watch itself. We’ve taken our pick of the year's best watch reinterpretations.

Casio commemorated its 50th anniversary with the re-release of a collection that has surely earned its status as a cult classic. Originally appearing in 1974, the ongoing re-release of digital watches brings back models from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

G-Shock, too, is making the classic contemporary again, marking its 40th anniversary with the Remaster series, featuring sharp new design details including transparent cases and useful tech. Elsewhere, Audemars Piguet translated an original 1960s design into a brutalist-inspired asymmetrical creation, [Re]master02; Hermès has rethought the Arceau watch 50 years after its release; Piaget revisited the Polo Date to mark 150 years; and Patek Philippe has imbued the Golden Ellipse, originally launched in 1968, with a 1970s-style gold mesh strap.

Find more Wallpaper* Design Awards winners in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is available in print on newsstands from 9 January 2025, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

When the Orient watch brand recently started referring to two of its more popular watches – the Bambino and Mako – by name, it wasn’t because of some decision within the company. ‘It was consumers who had named watches which until that point had just had reference numbers,’ says the brand’s senior business manager for Europe, Wiebke Bird. ‘And the names given work because they refer to what people like about the watches – that the Bambino, for example, perhaps speaks to that mid-1950s Italian lifestyle.’

This isn’t the first time the consumer has taken over, of course: fans have given Seiko watches, for instance, nicknames such as the Monster, the Samurai and the Tuna Can; Zenith watches, the Cover Girl and the Superman Blue. It’s a testament maybe to just how unwieldy watch reference names are from the consumer perspective.

But also to how the right name helps to define an icon over time: among the more acclaimed new models of 2024 have been new iterations of the well-established likes of Piaget’s Polo, Tag Heuer’s Carrera, Vacheron Constantin’s Fiftysix and Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso. Would these have become classics without their names?

The best name given to a new-ish model? Perhaps Ming’s Bluefin, H Moser’s Streamliner, Norqain’s Wild One, Shinola’s Mackinac, Baltic’s Hermetique or Paulin’s Oh No. (It’s a testament to how dependent the industry is on established model lines that innovation falls mostly to independent or micro-brands.)

‘A product name helps personify a watch – it makes it more endearing, more alive [and aptly so for a product that is so personal],’ argues Romain Marietta, director of product development for Zenith. ‘The design [of a watch] is much more important but the name has an impact for sure, [such that] it’s hard to imagine a watch with a bad name selling.’

If you’re lucky – or come up with a genre-defining design – your watch’s name comes close to transcending even the brand: the Submariner, the Speedmaster, the Royal Oak. But naming a watch isn’t easy, which is why many prefer to codify a model – as with Ressence’s new Type 5L, Braun’s BN0279 or Bell & Ross’s BR-03, for example. Bell & Ross claims this gives its models a more technical, function-forward vibe akin to the naming logic often applied by many companies in the car business, notably Audi and Mercedes.

‘We wanted to get away from those very descriptive, emotive words [chosen for names] – the kind that have that very 1950s feel of telling you what the product does and how well it does it,’ says Lewis Heath, founder of AnOrdain, whose Model 1 has been followed by Models 2 and 3. ‘We didn’t want anything to colour perception of the watch, though we have been told the choice was very unimaginative.’

As Bird points out, another problem is the sheer volume of new models. ‘When you think of the thousands of watches launched every year, just finding a name that hasn’t been used before is hard. And giving a name when you’re managing an international business – when a name may have alternative meanings that don’t work in all markets – is also a challenge.’

Even so, while a quick survey of 20th-century watch releases brings up some great names – Omega’s Ploprof, Favre’s Moon Raider, Heuer’s Monaco, Ulysse Nardin’s Freak, by turns evoking the technical, the futuristic, the exotic, the provocative – very few watch companies use external branding agencies to help them find good options. Zenith, for example, uses an in-house committee of six people who chew over a selection and decide on a name often very close to launch date.

According to Marietta, in one sense, giving naming any more effort is hardly worth it, since legally owning and protecting a name worldwide is arduous and expensive, especially for a watch model that – who knows? – may fade from view or be replaced in a matter of just a few years. ‘A car model, in contrast, may be produced for decades,’ he says.

And sometimes the best names are just happy accidents anyway. When Jaeger-LeCoultre launched its Polaris in 1968 it was originally, snappily, called the E859. It was a US sales agent who decided to rename it himself. Those who might have said that taking a name from the nuclear missile system brought into service a few years prior was not the best idea would appear to have been proven wrong.

When watch houses reinvent their iconic designs in jewelled form, the results can be sublime, joyous, and downright outrageous. We single out five classic watch designs that have been given a precious spin for 2024.

Jewelled watches for 2024

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Its reputation was forged in pure, gleaming steel, yet the Royal Oak’s super-clean lines take surprisingly well to a gem-set guise. But then, as one of the original super-thin mechanisms, this superstar watch – it was the first design to use steel like precious metal – has a naturally slender profile, allowing for the added volume that precious-stone setting dictates. Audemars Piguet has been involved in the business of jewelled timepieces since the late 19th century, when it provided mechanisms for houses such as Cartier and Tiffany & Co. Having established an in-house jewellery studio in 1980, it has developed a jewelled-watch style all its own. This year’s Royal Oak automatic variation is a fine example: a combination of 861 baguette-cut black sapphires, intense and light tsavorites and smoky quartz combine to create a moody camouflage effect.

audemarspiguet.com

Bulgari Octo Roma

Secret watches, timepieces with a jewelled dial cap and so designed to look like a bracelet, were originally created for women in the 1920s, who, keen to keep a social diary on track, might discreetly consult their watch without insulting their host. Today, watch brands increasingly use them as a form of storytelling, with fantastical narratives all the better to display in-house jewellery design and setting skills. And, when it comes to crafting fables around the intricate technological skills that jewelled watches require, Bulgari is a master. This year’s high-jewellery Fenice Octo Roma Secret Watch is made possible by the impossibly thin BVL 268SK Octo Roma movement. It allows for an intricate mechanical skeletonised dial and the decorative dial cover. Here, it is a phoenix rising up across the sizeable 44mm dial in a precious sweep of blue sapphires, aquamarines, and a tourmaline Paraiba.

bulgari.com

Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce

While the 1976 Nautilus design is currently Patek Philippe’s most sought-after sports-luxe design, the Aquanaut, a more casual variation launched 20 years later, in 1996, gets my vote. Probably because its streamlined profile and casual rubber bracelet, reflecting the checkerboard pattern of the dial, is less boardroom CEO and more St Tropez weekender. This year’s high-jewellery model boosts the gem factor with a beautifully considered combination of two setting techniques: rectangular baguettes and snow-setting, where variously sized smaller brilliant-cut white diamonds are tightly clustered into a glinting surface. Here, their addition softens the stark lines of the 72 baguette-cut blue sapphires and 38 baguette-cut diamonds, creating a rich jewel for the wrist and a glamorous promise of surf-bound, summer pursuits.

patek.com

Piaget Polo

The watchmaker-jeweller is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, and the star of the party is the Piaget Polo designed by Yves Piaget in 1979. Yves was a dedicated art lover who counted Andy Warhol as a friend, and there’s something of a Howard Hodgkin influence in his original watch design, where the watch case, bracelet and sleek gadroon decoration were fully integrated in a sublimely pure combination of the jeweller’s and watchmaker's crafts. The Polo was ‘carved, link by link from a single block of 18ct gold’, according to an ad campaign at the time and is, you might argue, the original sports-luxe watch. In the intervening 45 years, it has been redesigned almost beyond recognition, but some elements remain, including its super-skinny form, which lends itself to this celebratory deep-red ruby iteration with baguette-cut rubies and diamonds. The skeleton dial is also a recurring Piaget motif. However, at a whopping 49mm wide, this version of the Piaget Polo is out of bounds for slender wrists.

piaget.com

Rolex Daytona

Two new, jewelled versions of Rolex’s 1963 Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona are launched this year, each incorporating mother-of-pearl dials and markers. The luminous coating found in molluscs, such as oyster shells, has long been a favourite dial material for watch houses, because it can be cut into super-thin sheets. Profile volume is a prime consideration in watch design, and Rolex has been using mother-of-pearl as a decorative material for years. Both new Daytonas have white-gold cases, and the first features the slick, black Oysterflex bracelet with white mother-of-pearl dial and chrono subdials in black. The metal bracelet edition, however, sees the details reversed, with a black mother-of-pearl dial and white mother-of-pearl counters. Thirty-six brilliant-cut diamonds circle each dial, while the chunky diamond dial markers add a sporty frisson.

rolex.com

The hand-assembled cogs and gears in watchmaking offer a mechanical poetry when polished to perfection, and are close to a satellite link when it comes to accuracy. What better way to appreciate this living wrist machine than through the art of skeletonisation, which makes the movement come to life without a dial?

Skeletonised watches for 2024

Chanel J12 X-Ray

The new Chanel J12 X-Ray takes the timeless sports watch shape of the J12 and subverts it, transforming its image through solid pink sapphire. Using the same material as scratch-proof watch dials is incredibly hard work for cases and bracelets, but the maison makes it look easy. With a deceptively airy 38mm design, the open-worked movement battles for supremacy against the hypnotic power of bright pink sapphires. These are echoed on a gem-set clasp for the translucent bracelet, marking a year where Chanel’s watchmaking is on a roll.

Chanel.com

Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XP TT

Since its debut on the integrated bracelet scene in 2019, the sustainable Lucent Steel-bodied Alpine Eagle has quickly established itself as a contender. Now slimmed down in titanium, the robust yet refined shape of the Chopard has a fresh, open-worked design. Despite its 1980s-inspired intricate case details, the skeletonized version of the Eagle takes on a tougher, tonal modernity with the subtlest hints of purple jewels and a solid gold micro-rotor to add a touch of liveliness. The tour de force of the L.U.C Calibre 96.17-S measures a mere 3.3mm thick within an 8mm case, showcasing the innovation nurtured within the Chopard manufacture and the unique appeal of this timepiece.

Chopard.com

Piaget Altiplano Concept Tourbillon 150th

The Altiplano is one of the two ever-jostling contenders for the thinnest watch on the planet, being beaten by a hair’s breadth at Watches and Wonders 2024. But while the Bulgari Finissimo is in temporary possession of the Thin championship belt, Piaget plays a dressier game in its 150th year. While not holding back on the tech prowess, offering a flying tourbillon within a 2mm watch makes it unique. A dazzling dark blue cobolt alloy composite case with intricate rose-gold details houses an immaculately finished tourbillon at ‘10’, an integral part of the movement-cum-dial, vying for attention with the micro-marvel of this mechanical distillation.

Piaget.com

Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette

Gerald Charles is a brand founded by watch designer Gerald Genta in 2000, and now modernised by the Ziviano family. The brand’s forte is a baroque-shaped collection that matches dressy chic with hobnail-patterned rubber straps. With the Squelette series, Genta’s legacy takes a complex turn, with the 35-part case here framing a skeletonised movement as the de facto dial. A juxtaposed frivolity plays on the contrast between the sweeping 18ct rose-gold and anthracite movement architecture of the bespoke caliber GCA 5482. With sandblasted bridges accentuated by hand-polished anglage (chamfering), it is developed in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture and powered by a 22ct rose gold micro-rotor

Gerald Charles

Christopher Ward Twelve

Resplendent in brushed and polished titanium, the Twelve is yet another notch carved in the watchmaker’s workbench for Christopher Ward – an architectural ace card for the Swiss-manufactured brand with a British design and, dare we say it, soul. The 41mm case comes on a bold titanium bracelet or is juxtaposed with soft rubber, offering a skeletonised view of the monochrome heart. With dark bridgework seeming to grow inwards from the dial’s edge, the movement architecture will effectively end any dinner table discussion on the fascination with watchmaking. Adding the trump card of two large visible spring barrels giving the chronometer-certified movement a whopping 120 hours of power reserve seems almost unfair.

Christopher Ward

Bulgari: The rectangular form of baguette-cut diamonds presents the gemsetter with a graphic tool, here adding depth to Bulgari’s white-diamond spirals and figurative definition to the ‘Serpenti’ brooch. Pictured, ‘The Magnificent Inspirations’ brooch (far left) in platinum with 60 round brilliant- (29.28ct) and tapered baguette-cut diamonds (7.02ct); the ‘Magnificent Inspirations Serpenti’ brooch (top) in white gold, with baguette- and tapered cut diamonds (6.92ct) and standout square- (2.01ct) and pear-cut diamonds, both by Bulgari.

De Beers: Baguette-cut diamond spokes form an abstract framework for De Beers’ diamond medallion. Pictured, brooch (bottom), detachable from the ‘Elizabeth Tower’ necklace, in white gold with 356 diamonds in four cuts – round, princess, baguette, pear – including the central round brilliant (3.03ct), by De Beers. Jacket, by Christian Wijnants.

Fashion: Jason Hughes. Watches & Jewellery director: Caragh McKay

The brooch as a jewel form has been somewhat undervalued in recent years. Commonly perceived as being out of sync with contemporary tastes, its often-baroque nature is often dismissed as being too narrative rich for simpler, cleaner tastes. But brooches are best viewed beyond fashion, in high jewellery terms, as three-dimensional sculptures that push expectations of the materials used. Unlike like rings or earrings, they are not restricted to a particular part of the body – brooches allow designers and makers broader artistic scope. Toying with scale, perspective and traditional notions, as our story (first published in Wallpaper’s October 2016 issue) shows, when designed and crafted at this level, the brooch can become a powerful art object in its own right.

Harry Winston: A spray of knife-set diamonds forms this meditation on two classic stone cuts – round- brilliant and pear. ‘Cascading Drop’ brooch in platinum with 169 round brilliant and 16 pear-shape diamonds (totalling 35.21ct), by Harry Winston. Dress, by Boss

Tiffany & Co: Legendary Tiffany jewellery designer Jean Schlumberger was drawn to the irregularities of natural forms, slight ugliness being a necessary 
foil for an overtly romantic outcome. In turn, their intricate twists and turns allow gemsetters to display their own talents, as with 
this re-edition of a 1950s Schlumberger brooch. ‘Jean Schlumberger Guadeloupe’ brooch (top), from the 2016 Masterpieces collection, in 18ct gold with 79 round pink spinels (11.21ct) and eight round spessartites (1.37ct), by Tiffany & Co.

Cindy Chao: The freedom to express 
her sculptor’s instincts 
in various jewelled forms 
makes brooches the standout design in each Chao collection. Her 
fine art approach manifests 
in the ‘Rose Petals’ brooch, created in four parts. ‘Rose Petals’ brooch in silver and 18ct yellow gold (only two pieces shown), with central oval-cut diamonds (1.51ct and 2.05ct) and various cuts totalling 48.12ct, by Cindy Chao. Jacket, by Cédric Charlier

Chaumet: a pear-cut exclamation point highlights the vivacious character of Chaumet’s summer wheatsheaf. Its elegant nature is distinguished by exquisite craftsmanship. La Nature de Chaumet ‘Offrandes d’Été’ brooch (on collar) in white gold and brilliant-cut diamonds, with 2.21ct pear drop.

Dior Joaillerie: Interior details from the Château de Versailles are translated into tangled, sculpted jewels shimmering with sizeable velvet-hued stones. Designing the pieces as if viewed by candlelight led designer Victoire de Castellane to consider alternative materials, such as blackened silver.
Dior à Versailles ‘Salon de Diane’ brooch (left) in white, yellow and pink gold, and darkened silver, with 154 round- (6.21ct) and three pear-cut diamonds (1.51ct; 1.01ct; 0.70ct) and pear-cut emerald (2.18ct), by Dior Joaillerie.

Piaget: the watchmaker-jeweller’s distinct house engraving techniques add a lush, organic feel to this fan of red-gold palm leaves, pinched artfully together with a 2.51ct green tourmaline baguette.
Brooch (right), detachable from The Sunny Side of Life ‘Golden Palm’ necklace, in 18ct red gold with green tourmaline baguette (2.51ct), and 60 white diamonds (15ct), by Piaget. Cape; coat (worn underneath), both by Agnona

Suzanne Syz: Her pop art background and craftsman’s approach are
 the fundamentals in Suzanne Syz’s postmodern creations, 
as this grotesque mélange 
of rare materials and cartoon-
like references reveals. ‘Kermit on a Lilypad’ brooch (top) in yellow gold with chrysoprase, spessartite garnets (38.03ct), tsavorites (45.89ct), cabochon rubies (0.66ct) and diamonds (0.29ct), by Suzanne Syz.

Chanel Fine Jewellery: The ancient symbolism 
of wheat inspired Chanel’s 
Les Blés de Chanel collection, which is why 
it is quietly, beautifully rooted in Classicism. Moisson Ensoleillée’
brooch (right) in 18ct white and yellow gold, with 19 marquise-, seven pear- and 168 brilliant-cut diamonds, 209 brilliant-cut yellow sapphires and one central octagonal-cut African yellow sapphire (10.22ct), 
by Chanel. Jacket, by Victoria Beckham

Louis Vuitton: the new era of brooch designs reflects 19th-century tastes, where the highly precious nature of materials did not inhibit scale, nor restrict a brooch to a particular area of the body, as in Louis Vuitton’s ‘lace’ garland of diamonds. ‘Diamonds’ brooch (top) in white gold with diamonds (10.74ct), from the Dentelle de Monogram collection, by Louis Vuitton.

Boucheron: Designer Claire Choisne’s plush peacock plume of diamonds is crafted in two pieces, designed to create the illusion of bird feathers transforming into a flock. ‘Plume de Paon’ brooch (below) in 18ct white gold with one pear-cut diamond (0.08ct) and 499 round brilliants (3.33ct), by Boucheron
Top, £395, by Pringle of Scotland. Skirt, by Marni

Amrapali: Polished perfection is not typical of the traditional Indian fine jewellery aesthetic, where the 
visceral power of stones 
is paramount. This white-gold wreath design of 
non-uniform pearls and tumbled 45.64ct rubellite tourmaline underlines 
the organic Indian style. Brooch in 14ct gold and sterling silver, with 
128 round brilliant-cut diamonds (0.76ct); 
oval-cut emerald (1.15ct) and 14 South Sea pearls (9.46ct), with central tumbled rubellite tourmaline briolette (45.64ct), by Amrapali.

Cartier: The French jewellery house’s creative links to India 
and its particular jewellery design codes are reflected 
in the compelling nature 
of this carved rubellite. ‘Caresse d’Orchidées’ brooch of rubellite tourmaline (414.45ct), 
with one diamond pear- (0.73ct) and 186 round brilliant-cut diamonds (2.08ct), by Cartier. Jacket, by MaxMara

Graff: Gradating tiers of marquise-cut diamonds add a natural sense of movement to Graff’s magnificent ‘Bird of Paradise’ and its everlasting delivery of a 2.02ct pear drop. Pavéd brilliants add volume and texture to its narrative form. ‘Bird of Paradise’ brooch 
in 350 diamonds (27ct), including pavé set, 
pear- and marquise-cut, with central 2.02ct pear, 
by Graff. Top, by Bally

First unveiled in the 1970s, Piaget’s Limelight Gala Precious Sunrise is still characterised by its asymmetrical profile and the sweeping lines that circle the bezel before continuing their journey along the bracelet. The bold colours that defined the women’s watches of previous decades here give way to bridal-friendly softer shades, with an intricate gradation of pastel blues plotted in brilliant-cut sapphires and diamonds. High jewellery elements continue in both the dial, sprinkled with snow-set diamonds, and the supple bracelet in white gold.

The sparkling new watch is a natural continuation of Piaget’s commitment to high precision and intricate craftsmanship, which has been synonymous with the brand since its inception in 1874. The brand has grown to encompass the production of both technical accomplishments – including ultra-thin movements – and dazzling high jewellery, which Piaget began showing at its Geneva ‘salon’ alongside its watches in 1959. By specialising in goldmsithing and gem-setting, Piaget was able to control every aspect of the process, something that remains key to the brand today.

Piaget watch and more modern elegance

Add this Piaget timepiece to a bridal look for a modern take on matrimonial elegance. For further wedding inspiration, let us introduce Weddingpaper*, Wallpaper’s first dip into nuptial nirvana, as seen in the October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue and coming to Wallpaper.com throughout this week. Forget the conventional and the staid; here, tradition comes with a twist and frou frou frills with a velvet blue mule.

Whether it’s pairing the cool metal hues of a rose gold wristwatch with the billowing folds of an In-Grid Bride gown, or juxtaposing a luminescent Mikimoto pearl brooch against the mischievous polka dots of a Dunhill shirt, brides and grooms are sure to find something style wise to love. Wedding guests, too, take note: our chic and sculptural guide to timeless gifting puts the days of mismatched china long behind us, making for a very modern take on wedded bliss.

INFORMATION

piaget.com

A version of this article appears in the October 2021, 25th Anniversary Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands and available to subscribers – 12 digital issues for $12/£12/€12.

The transition from exhibition-wowing concept to commercially available product is often rocky and nonlinear. Attendees of an automobile trade fair can be awestruck by the design of a futuristic vehicle concept one year, only to be disappointed a few seasons later to see the car’s original lines and brave ideas tamed and diluted for public consumption. Not so with Piaget, luxury wristwatch manufacture and master purveyors of the ultra-thin aesthetic.

Back in 2018 the Piaget maison unveiled its remarkable Altiplano Ultimate Concept at Geneva’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Measuring a gossamer-slender 2mm, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch caused a sensation. Numerous innovations impressed also; a case that doubled as part of the movement. A unique, integrated winding crown. An ultra-thin crystal and a power reserve that somehow extended to more than 40 hours. A total of 167 individual parts, many of which had to be especially produced to microscopically small dimensions. But would the maverick prototype created by Piaget's dedicated Research and Innovation division ever actually go into production?

Just two years later and the Piaget concept is ready for purchase. And in terms of design, mechanical ingenuity, parameters of accuracy, reliability and robustness, there has been no compromise since its exhibition debut.

Too thin to be made from traditional precious metals, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept has been produced in a new, highly resistant, cobalt-based alloy that is 2.3 times stronger than gold – a mere 0.12mm of this cobalt separates the Altiplano Ultimate Concept movement from the wearer's skin. The sapphire crystal? That’s gone on a crash diet too. On a standard watch, the glass is normally 1mm thick but for the Altiplano Ultimate Concept it has been pared-down by 80 per cent to just 0.2mm. The crown has been re-invented to take the form of a flat, telescopic system (complete with its own, specially-designed winding tool) that fits flush with the case band. Instead of a conventional dial and two hands placed on top of a bridge, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept features a dial that lies beneath for impact trauma and strong enough to withstand aerobatic jet-levels of G-Force.

INFORMATION

piaget.com

Precision cuts and non-precious metals are the contemporary take on classic styles
‘Ca Cartonne’ cuff in coated aluminium, titanium and diamonds, by Suzanne Syz. ‘Aria Passionata’ brooch in gold, lacquer, rubies, garnets, diamonds and central 22.51ct rhodolite garnet, from the Chaumet est un Fête collection, by Chaumet. ‘Tiare’ earrings in blackened gold, diamonds and rubies, by Reza. ‘Soothing Lotus’ necklace in gold with rough and polished diamonds and central 6ct diamond drop, by De Beers. ‘Piccadilly’ fabric, £100 per m, by Nya Nordiska. Jewellery prices throughout, on request

Beading and lattice work add a sense of lightness to hard materials
Left, ‘High Jewellery’ necklace in white gold with turquoise, emeralds and diamonds, by De Grisogono High Jewellery. ‘Feather 0011’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand. Right, necklace in white gold with diamonds and central 19.79ct Ceylon sapphire, from the Resonances de Cartier collection, by Cartier. ‘Diamond River’ earrings in platinum with diamonds, by Harry Winston. Ring in white gold with diamonds and central 4.29ct fancy vivid yellow diamond, from the Swirl collection, by Graff. ‘Feather 0012’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand

Expert gold techniques add texture to create a beautifully contemporary finish
Left, ‘Blue Shore’ cuff watch in white gold with lapis lazuli dial, from the Sunlight Journey collection, by Piaget. ‘Sailor Tattoo’ cuff in white gold with diamonds, from the Flying Cloud collection, by Chanel Fine Jewellery. ‘Feuille’ brooch in white gold with diamonds, from the Hiver Imperial collection, by Boucheron. ‘Scratch 6787/0001’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand. ‘Kito CS’ fabric £250 per m, by Nya Nordiska. Right, ‘Cachette des Coccinelles’ clip in gold with diamonds, spinels and central 10.17ct Zambian emerald, from the Le Secret collection, by Van Cleef & Arpels. ‘Divissima’ bracelet in pink gold with diamonds, amethysts and rubellites, by Bulgari. ‘Feather 0010’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand. ‘Batumi Uni CS’ fabric, £59 per m, by Nya Nordiska

Metal and stones take on the guise of fine fabrics in intricate mesh and ribbon designs
Left, ‘Les Merveilles Meche’ necklace in white gold with diamonds, rubies, pink sapphires and central 10.06ct white diamond drop, by Boghossian. ‘Feather 0011’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand. Right, ‘Elixir of Youth’ brooch in titanium with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and central 42.39ct jadeite cabochon, by Anna Hu. ‘Bosquet de l’Encelade’ bracelet in gold with rock crystal, diamonds, emeralds, spinels, spessartite and tsavorite garnets, sapphires, Paraiba-type tourmalines, turquoise and central 12.38ct black opal, from the Dior à Versailles Côté Jardins collection, by Dior Haute Joaillerie. ‘Tesori del Mare’ bracelet in white gold and titanium with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, spinels, spessartite and tsavorite garnets, Paraiba tourmalines, and pearls, from the Mediterranea collection, by Giampiero Bodino. ‘Feather 0011’ fabric, £70 per m, by Kinnasand

The original Piaget Polo was a chic, high-society calling card, worn by the likes of Roger Moore and Andy Warhol. The fine, gold bracelet had a recurring step motif that ran seamlessly through the dial and case, prompting Yves Piaget to call it a ‘watch bracelet, rather than a mere wristwatch’. It was unashamedly elitist.

The new iteration, the Polo S is unashamedly less so. Even the name tells you that – the ‘S’ stands for steel. The Piaget S is the first steel watch Piaget has introduced in 15 years, and one of only a handful in its 170-odd year history. As such, Piaget CEO Philippe Léopold-Metzger has declared the Polo S a watch for ‘a new generation’ of consumers. The point is, it’s a fine watch at a more achievable price point and retails at under £10,000.

The watch world has excellent form when it comes to creating fine timepieces in steel rather than more expected precious metals, such as gold. Audemars Piguet broke the mold when it launched the Royal Oak to a bemused Baselworld audience in 1972. Designed by the late, great Gérald Genta, careful finishing was key to giving the humble material a luxurious, precious touch. Patek Philippe’s benchmark steel model, the Nautilus, also designed by Genta, followed in 1976. While this year, Vacheron Constantin launched its handsome Overseas model in steel.

So, how does Piaget’s new Polo S fit into the story? Aesthetically, it is convincing, albeit bearing little resemblance to the original Polo. The stepped look has been reduced to a much finer horizontal graining on the dial, and the bracelet is no longer seamlessly integrated into the case. There are blue or white dial variants, although the anthracite-grey is the pick, while oddly, the chronograph version (£11,500) is only available in white or blue. Both the time-only and chronograph models are powered by in-house Piaget movements.

Will it be enough to convince the next generation of watch buyers? In design terms, the 1970s echo is still audible, thanks to the way its case slips fluidly into the lugs, while the combination of a round bezel within a ‘TV-screen’ dial gives it current appeal. Depending on your material preference, it’s really just a matter of taste.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Piaget Polo website

SalonQP, the annual fine-watch fair held at the Saatchi Gallery, brought the world's top watch brands, makers and collectors to London last week. But along with the first-rate crowd, one of the year's biggest draws was the distinctly stylish 'Gems of Time' exhibition, exploring the design and innovation of the jewelled watch.
 
Even nicer, it was curated by our watches and jewellery director Caragh McKay and designed by Wallpaper* editor-at-large Leila Latchin. McKay invited Latchin to design the set as she knew 'Leila would create a space that understands the classic nature of the great jewellery houses while imbuing them with a suitably modern glamour that is all too often missing from fine jewellery and watch exhibitions, which tend to be staged in traditional art institutions.'
 
The soft, pastel palette was dictated by the golden-peach 'Semiramis' fabric from Sahco, which lined the display cases and was also used to create couture-like billowed curtains. Latchin wanted to design 'an intimate space that draws you in, with elegant windows and curtained alcoves emerging as you move through, each revealing their own treasures hidden within'. Indeed, looking into each vitrine was like peeking into a personal jewellery box befitting Latchin's vision of creating 'poetic still-life compositions by setting the timepieces among vintage pheasant feathers and ribbons'.
 
The aptly named 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' wall sconces by Matali Casset for Made by Meta were crafted using paktong, a zinc, nickel and copper alloy traditionally imported from China and used for domestic fittings in the 18th century. Latchin's addition of four 'Ilios' disc and sphere wall lamps by Atelier Areti, the London design studio run by sisters Gwendolyn and Guillane Kerschbaumer, added a modern Deco-style touch.

Pale-pink walls lined with emerald-shaped windows revealed a mesmerising collection of current and archive pieces, including a rare collection of Bulgari Serpenti watches. Another unique addition were the drawings of fashion illustrator Nuno da Costa, whose swan-necked, jewel-bedecked girls were projected onto a dividing wall. 'I have always wanted to collaborate on an exhibition with Nuno,' McKay reveals. 'His drawings bring a vitality and youthfulness to fine jewellery. He has a deep understanding of its timeless appeal – its art status, if you like – and so is well placed to put that in a fashion context.'
 
Cartier's set of three contemporary 'Panthère' watches celebrated 100 years of the house's iconic design in white gold, onyx and pavé diamonds. Piaget reflected on its tradition of hammered gold, hard-stone dials and turquoise, exhibiting cuff watches from 1970 alongside pieces from this year's 'Extremely Piaget Paris Biennale' collection, while De Beers displayed a brand-new 'Aria' collection of cocktail watches.

Jaeger-LeCoultre's 'Joaillerie 101 Manchette' cuff played a trick on the eyes: nestled among a puzzle of pavé and white-gold squares, the tiny Calibre 101 ticked away, the miniature movement as impressive now as it was when it was created nearly 100 years ago, in 1929.