Piaget: history, models and value

Founded

1874

Founder(s)

Georges Édouard Piaget

Headquarters

Geneva (Plan-les-Ouates)

Owner / group

Richemont

Piaget: origins and founding

In 1874 Georges Édouard Piaget set up a workshop on his family's farm in La Côte-aux-Fées, a village in the Neuchâtel Jura. He did not make finished watches under his own name. He made precision movements and parts for other watch companies. Piaget still makes movements in La Côte-aux-Fées today.

Founders and family

In 1911 his son Timothée Piaget took over and moved the focus to wristwatch movements. From the 1940s the grandsons Gérald and Valentin Piaget turned the supplier into a brand. They registered the Piaget trademark in 1943 and, with sales director Camille Pilet, built international sales.

Piaget history and milestones

• 1943: registration of the Piaget brand.
• 1957: the hand-wound Calibre 9P, only 2 mm thick, which made ultra-thin watches the brand's specialty.
• 1959: first Piaget boutique in Geneva; jewellery becomes a second pillar.
• 1960: the automatic Calibre 12P, at the time one of the thinnest automatic movements.
• 1964: dials made of hardstones such as lapis lazuli, turquoise or onyx.
• 1976: the quartz Calibre 7P, Piaget's answer to the quartz era.
• 1979: the Polo, a gold watch with an integrated bracelet and quartz movement. In the 1980s it made up about a third of Piaget's sales.
• 1988: the Vendôme group, today Richemont, buys Piaget.
• 2001: a new manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva.
• 2016: the Polo S in steel, with in-house automatic movements.
• 2018: the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, a mechanical watch only 2 mm thick.

Famous Piaget models

• Altiplano: the classic ultra-thin dress watch, hand-wound or automatic, in gold, often with very simple dials.
• Polo: from the 1979 gold quartz original to the steel Polo S and the modern Polo 79.
• Possession: ladies' watches and jewellery with a turning ring.
• Limelight Gala and other jewellery watches: set with diamonds and gemstones.
• Emperador: cushion-shaped and tonneau-shaped dress watches, some with complications.
• Vintage pieces: 1960s and 1970s gold watches, often with hardstone dials, textured bracelets or unusual case shapes.

Movements and technique

Piaget is a true manufacture. It designs and builds its own movements, and many of them are made for thinness. Beyond the 9P and 12P, Piaget made the 600P tourbillon (2002), a minute repeater with the Calibre 1290P (2013), the ultra-thin Altiplano Ultimate Automatic (2017) and the 2 mm Altiplano Ultimate Concept, whose case and movement were combined into one structure. Piaget also uses quartz movements, especially in ladies' and jewellery models.

Piaget today

Piaget is part of Richemont, the group that also owns Cartier, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Its headquarters and manufacture are in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva, with movement production in La Côte-aux-Fées. Piaget sits in the luxury segment and is as much a jeweller as a watchmaker.

Piaget prices on the pre-owned market

Many Piaget watches are made of solid gold and set with stones, so the material alone gives them a base value. Still, used dress watches and jewellery watches often sell well below their original retail price, because the market for them is smaller than for sports watches. The steel Polo S and the modern Polo models are easier to sell. Vintage pieces from the 1960s and 1970s with hardstone dials or striking designs have become popular with collectors, and original condition is key. Early quartz models from the 1970s and 1980s are worth checking carefully: a working, original movement matters.

Value depends on the reference, the gold weight, any diamonds (original factory setting versus later aftermarket stones), the condition of the bracelet and whether you still have the box and papers.

How to recognise a genuine Piaget

Piaget watches carry a reference number and an individual serial number, usually on the caseback. Gold cases should show Swiss hallmarks. Check the dial printing, the fit of the bracelet and, on an open caseback, the finishing of the movement. On vintage pieces, look out for replaced dials and for diamonds added after the watch left the factory, which lowers the value. More tips are in our guide on how to spot a fake watch.

What is your Piaget worth?

Take photos of the dial, the caseback, the clasp and any papers and use our free watch value estimate. If you need a document for an estate, insurance or division of assets, ask for a written watch appraisal.

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