Piaget let free a bit of for its newest assortment of watches and jewellery, impressed by cocktails. We could also be within the thick of Fall however the Swiss firm had summer season on its thoughts for the brand new Solstice assortment. Colourful libations encourage the wealthy bursts of colour all through however tackle a extra literal interpretation in items like a watch dial accented in limes or a hoop with a gem-encrusted piece of fruit popping off the aspect.

On the core of the road, which consists primarily of—naturally—cocktail rings is a colourful assortment of joyful gem stones, organized to resemble the negronis, Manhattans, gin fizzes and mimosas all of us love. Piaget mixes up a fizzy mix of peridot, citrine, tourmaline and indicolite, stirs in just a few diamonds and shakes them up collectively in a whimsical design worthy of comfortable hour.

“The target is to develop the utmost expression of Piaget audacity and savoir-faire by creating items that categorical the joyful aspect of the model,” says Christophe Bourrie, Piaget’s world director of excessive jewellery. “Semi-precious stones are one of the simplest ways to precise that, and to recreate the intense colours in particular cocktails. Every bit is a type of fantasy, fairly than a proper, traditional piece of knickknack with sapphire, rubies or emeralds. They’re enjoyable.”

Enjoyable, perhaps, however not simple to create. As an increasing number of manufacturers compete to serve a rising buyer base of high-net-worth prospects who count on one of the best of one of the best, the competitors to accumulate the world’s high gem stones is heating up, in keeping with Bourrie. “The nightmare is to search out stones,” he says. “There may be enormous strain available on the market from not solely the massive maisons, akin to Cartier, Bulgari and Graff, that are getting larger and larger, but additionally the style maisons which can be getting extra into excessive jewellery, like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel and Gucci. We’re all competing to purchase one of the best gem stones, and these will not be one thing that may be manufactured. They’re presents from the earth,” says Bourrie. “We’ve a group of seven in-house gemologists looking for one of the best gems, three of whom are devoted solely to middle stones. We’ve targeted on the very best high quality for the quite simple motive that we wish to place ourselves on the highest high quality vary of excessive jewellery. That’s how we shall be completely different from others, as a result of we are going to by no means be larger.”

For the Solstice assortment, the gems needed to finest signify the colourful components of the cocktails represented by the designs: grenadine (pink sapphires), mint leaves (emeralds), sprinkled sugar (diamonds), ice cubes (tough diamonds), bourbon (brown diamonds) and slices of lime (hand sculpted peridot).

The showcase watch within the assortment is a cocktail on the wrist. The dial options lime slices and mint leaves floating in a white liquid punctuated by diamond ice cubes. It was a collaboration between Anita Porchet, Switzerland’s main girl of enameling, and Dutch grasp engraver, Dick Steenman. On a background of sculpted mother-of-pearl, Steenman engraved outlines of lime slices and mint leaves. Anita Porchet then utilized a palette of translucent enamels to convey the limes and mint leaves to life. Porchet’s work is showcased on one other dial, on the Festive Sharing watch, depicting a breezy pastiche of lemons, limes, flowers and leaves, utilizing champlevé enamel, paillonné enamel and miniature portray. A 3rd watch, the Gleaming Savor, options the work of French marquetry artist Rose Saneuil in a composition resembling a starry night time–cocktail time–utilizing 177 individually reduce items of straw, sycamore wooden and elytron (beetle wings). The bezel is about with baguette diamonds, set the other way up for a subtle gentle impact.

Piaget launches a singular assortment of fifty to 100 items yearly underneath the umbrella of the Artistic assortment. Every can take 5 years to finish, relying largely on sourcing the gems, so a number of are being labored on directly. “It takes even longer these days,” says Bourrie, “as a result of there’s a sustainability compliance test listing to comply with as nicely.”

Piaget was based in 1874, beginning out as a maker of watch actions, after which as a producer of its personal watches—primarily costume watches and excessive jewellery items. “Piaget’s experience in jewellery watches led to particular orders from shoppers for straight jewellery with out the watch, so across the Nineteen Sixties, the maison began to do jewelry-only items on request,” explains Bourrie. “At first, it was simply extra enterprise, after which we began, perhaps 20 years in the past, to do correct collections.”

The annual Artistic Assortment is often launched at particular salons and personal occasions. Within the Nineteen Seventies, when Yves Piaget instilled his design mark on the enterprise (he created the flagship Polo watch assortment) and introduced his social contacts to the model, Piaget gained a large following amongst celebrities, a following that was known as the Piaget Society. Immediately, within the age of burgeoning collector teams, Piaget is reviving the idea amongst its loyal shopper base. “Our Piaget Society is a artistic motion,” says Bourrie. “It was social earlier than social media, a joyful group of knickknack and watch lovers, individuals from both in entrance of or behind the digital camera, cultural leaders, pioneers and fashionable beauties. After they meet, it’s like discovering a house away from residence for individuals with widespread pursuits, who reside boldly however with sophistication, and who dare to be uncommon. Its collective power has a singular energy.”