Playful rarities

Piaget celebrates its heritage with an art-inspired collection

- STORY: KANOKPORN CHANASONGKRAM

Besides playing with circles, squares, triangles and shapes within shapes, Piaget encompassed graphic lines, geometric angles and sensual curves in the designs of a new high-jewellery collection.

The resulting Shapes of Extraleganza is the second in a trilogy, launched last year, as a part of Piaget’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The 51 compositions illustrate the fusion of extravagance and elegance, reinforcing Piaget's standing as the Maison of Extraleganza. In addition, the new collection is a tribute to the brand’s connection to art, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.

Before the start of the Swinging Sixties, Piaget had just diversified into jewellery. The inaugural collection was showcased along with watches at the first Salon Piaget, which opened its doors in Geneva in June 1959.

In the following 1960s, the maison began employing ornamental stones in its watchmaking, imparting the dials with a vibrant colour.

The Shapes of Extraleganza collection includes the Kaleidoscope Lights collar, long drop banded earrings, rings and a watch designed with a colourful palette, rendered by a variety of ornamental and minerals stones including unusual specimens, such as rhodochrosite, sugilite and verdite.