Piaget

Georges Piaget set up a workshop on the family farm in La Côte-aux-Fées in 1874, producing movements for other houses. The name did not appear on dials until 1943, and the decision that defined the company came a decade later.

In 1957 Piaget released the calibre 9P, a hand-wound movement two millimetres thick. The 12P automatic followed in 1960 at 2.3mm, then the thinnest automatic in the world. Thinness became the house obsession and its competitive territory, pursued through decades of records and continuing in the Altiplano line — including complete watches, case and all, under four millimetres.

Extreme thinness forced Piaget into a distinctive aesthetic. There was no room for conventional dials, so the company used hardstone: lapis, opal, turquoise, tiger's eye. The 1960s and 70s cuff watches, with woven gold bracelets and gem-set bezels, made Piaget as much a jeweller as a watchmaker, and the Polo of 1979 gave it an integrated gold sports watch of its own.

The company remained family-run until 1988, when it was acquired by Cartier — later folded into Richemont — and it continues to manufacture ultra-thin calibres at La Côte-aux-Fées while assembling and gem-setting in Geneva.

Piaget holds 35 models, from £5,150 to £44,100. Half cost less than £19,300, and a quarter less than £13,010. 17 of 35 are automatic. 3 are stocked by more than one retailer, giving 39 offers in total. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1874

Georges Piaget founds the workshop at La Côte-aux-Fées.

1943

The Piaget name is registered as a brand.

1957

The 9P sets an ultra-thin benchmark at 2mm.

1960

The 12P becomes the thinnest automatic movement.

1979

The Polo launches.

1988

Acquired by Cartier, later Richemont.