The history of Piaget watches

Piaget watches

Looking back, Piaget’s growth from humble beginnings to its status as a manufacturer of sought-after luxury watches, has been both long and hard. In 1874, Georges Piaget began manufacturing pocket watches on the family’s isolated farm. At the turn of the century, his sons then devoted themselves to manufacturing wristwatches. Large-scale production and fame proved elusive until the early 1950s. Then it all suddenly happened very quickly with Gérald and Valentin Piaget, thanks to the development and manufacture of their own movements, earning Piaget the title of “manufacture” (watch factory).

The first calibre manufactured personally by the Piaget family, the 9P, with a diameter of nine lines and hand-wound movement, was released in 1956. The 12P, launched in 1959, self-winding thanks to a gold micro-rotor, was the thinnest of its kind (2.3 mm thick) although production subsequently ceased. The Vendôme group acquired a 60% stake in 1988.

Piaget was taken over entirely by the luxury good empire Richemont in 1993. The character of the firm, with its own hand-wound and self-winding movements, was not affected by this move.

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