Piaget Polo Date 36mm
The Piaget Polo Date 36mm is the latest creation from the ultra high-end watch brand. It unites both Haute Horlogerie with Haute Joaillerie, two métiers synonymous with this historic Maison.
Founded in 1874, Piaget was originally a movement specialist, supplying various établisseurs. This latter term is used to describe a watchmaker who purchases ébauches and movement components, then assembles them to produce timepieces in their entirety.
In 1943, under the reign of Timothée Piaget, the brand transitioned from a movement specialist to a watchmaker in its own right. Some years later, in 1957, the firm released its first ultra-thin calibre, the iconic Calibre 9P measuring just 2mm in height. Since the unveiling of the Calibre 9P it is fair to say that the brand has been prolific, creating numerous slim movements, both in hand-wound and automatic form.
Although Piaget will always be known for making ultra-thin movements, the brand repertoire extends beyond making this genre of timepiece. In 1979, the Maison unveiled its now-legendary sports watch, the Polo. Its very name conjured up thoughts of frenetic chukkas and elite living. Famously, Andy Warhol, the legendary American artist, chose to wear Piaget’s high-end Polo timepiece. With Warhol’s seal approval, a man renowned for being an aesthete, the Polo soon assumed iconic status.
Last year (2020), Piaget released a glorious version of the Polo with a handsome green dial. Measuring 42mm in diameter, the steel case, sans gems, exuded an air of masculinity. While the dial tincture was new, the familiar cushion-shaped dial and round case ensemble employed on the 1979 original remained in evidence. As one would expect, the watch is equipped with a Piaget movement, the self-winding Calibre 1110P. Despite its bold looks and high quotient of practicality, the limited-edition Polo Green remains eminently elegant.
Now, the Manufacture has just unveiled the Piaget Polo Date 36mm. This new model is offered in five variants from a comparatively modest steel option with diamond-set indexes (Ref. G0A46018)
to a deliciously decadent Haute Joaillerie creation festooned with 1611 diamonds (Ref. G0A46022). All models feature the Piaget Manufacture self-winding movement 500P1 calibre.
While the Maison does not define the watch as a ladies’ timepiece, the widespread use of gems would suggest this is the model’s intended audience. However, the aforementioned steel model, endowed with a bewitching blue dial (Ref. G0A46018) may well suit those gentlemen seeking a modestly sized watch, but packed with horological virtue.
The brand’s press release
The Piaget Polo is a watch that celebrates the Piaget philosophy of living on the sunny side of life. It is elegant and refined but also fun and exuberant for all of life’s moments. Just like the Piaget Society, the Polo radiates with its fashionable style and love for spending quality time together with friends. Thanks to its exquisite movements, sophisticated complications and its vivid colours, the Piaget Polo makes every single day just that little bit brighter.
The origins of the Piaget Polo
The year was 1979, and for the first time in its history, the Maison officially gave one of its models a name, Piaget Polo, echoing the eponymous jet-set sport and glamourous art of living. While glamour was the leitmotif of the era, it was expressed in ways that defied the norms governing traditional luxury. The people of the 1970s were breaking free from outdated design codes and opting for a new, sportier, and more relaxed form of elegance. On the wrist of Andy Warhol, it witnessed the wild nights that took place at Studio 54, while, over the years, its chic style has also caught the attention of Roger Moore, and celebrity couple Bjorn Borg and his wife Mariana.
Evolution of the Polo Style
The design of the Piaget Polo has always encapsulated the mood of the moment, bringing it its iconic status. Moving with the times, the aesthetic of the Piaget Polo Date in 36mm takes the spirit of this historic collection and reinterprets it in a new way. When Piaget created the Piaget Polo back in 1979, the Maison wanted to create a sophisticated watch for every day, a watch that would incorporate all the Piaget design codes that are synonymous with style, casual elegance, and freedom, and that brief hasn’t changed. The new Piaget Polo Date 36mm has been finetuned to today’s times. This new generation wants to do things differently and focus on the essentials of fine watchmaking and elegance.
The stylistic codes of the Piaget Polo
The Piaget Polo is best known for its shape-in-shape design with a round bezel and cushion shaped dial, which remains at the heart of this new model. Thanks to Piaget’s slim self-winding Calibre 501P, the Piaget Polo Date 36mm has an elegant and re- fined profile that is perfect for this smaller model. The movement comes with a slate grey coloured oscillating weight that can be admired through a sapphire caseback. Its graphic dial features a horizontal guilloché pattern, Dauphine and skeleton hands, a date at six o’clock, and diamond-set indexes. The majority of the models come with Piaget’s interchangeable strap system and are also available with a steel or gold bracelet that features alternating polished and satin-finished H-design links that are perfectly integrated into the case.
An array of exquisite models to choose from
Piaget unveils two refined 36mm models in stainless steel with matching steel bracelets and a combination of polished and satin-finished details. One comes with a gorgeous deep Piaget blue dial and sparkling diamond-set gold indexes, while the other model features a pure white dial with a radiant diamond-set bezel that is paired with diamond-set gold indexes. Two exquisite rose gold models sparkle with diamonds and snow-white dials with either a slate grey alligator strap or a full gold rose gold bracelet. For lovers of gemsetting, Piaget presents two fully-paved models, one of which with a dark blue alligator strap and the other on a fully-paved diamond bracelet.
Further reading