The rose, quintessentially feminine, enduringly romantic, occupies a very special – even unique – place in Piaget’s collections. Just as it does in the heart of M. Yves Piaget. The Piaget Rose, with velvety petals of sculpted gold or glistening diamonds, is the one and only figurative design in the Maison’s creative repertoire, a much-loved signature with a strong connection to the Piaget family; a fragrant reminder of the intensely personal story that underpins the brand.
Yves Piaget, the vivacious visionary who took the helm of the Maison in the early 1980s, grew up in the Swiss watchmaking village of La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Jura mountains that are carpeted in spring and summer with wildflowers. Nature was a constant presence in M. Piaget’s life, particularly the flowers, plants and trees of the Jura forests, and, as he began to make his mark in the family business, it soon became clear that he drew his creative energy and his irrepressible exuberance from the life force of the natural world.
Later, he was to say that his childhood memories were fragrant with the scent of roses. So that it was a natural progression for him to become infatuated with the beauty and romance of the rose; a natural move too for him to capture that beauty, with all its legends and associations, through the skills of the artisans and the mastery of gold, for which Piaget – the House of Gold – had become famous.
In 1982, Yves Piaget’s passion and expertise were honoured when a special rose bred by celebrated rose grower, Alain Meilland, was named after him. The Yves Piaget, a much-loved species, is an intense pink hybrid rose, peony-like, its 80 petals with frilled, serrated edges, and a rich fragrance. To return the honour, Piaget decided to create a life-size gold rose to be awarded each year to the winner of the competition.
Yves Piaget’s passion kept him involved in the world of roses, sponsoring international competitions and supporting the renovation of famous rose gardens including Malmaison and Monaco. So entwined was the rose with the Piaget story, becoming something of a talismanic emblem for the company, that in 2012, 30 years after the naming of the Piaget Rose, the Maison launched the first Rose-themed collection, followed in 2014 by the Rose Passion High Jewellery collection. Marking and celebrating the devotion to beauty and to the natural world that remains at the heart of Piaget.
The blossoming of the Piaget Rose
The Piaget Rose flourishes in the radiance of golden sunlight, an enduring inspiration to the Maison’s creativity and craftsmanship. This spring, a lively capsule collection presents a delectable bouquet of newly bloomed diamond set Rose jewels, with flashes of vibrant, leaf green emeralds. Poised between naturalism and abstraction, these are roses that grow in lush abundance from bud to blossom, spreading across the hand on between-the-finger rings, or climbing up around the ears, playfully mismatched with a single earring designed as marquise-diamond leaves clustered around a centre emerald.
Petals are delicately chiselled, their linear silhouettes contrasting with the lusciousness of multi- layers, on which diamonds seem to rest lightly, like dewdrops. Leaves are formed by marquise-cut diamonds, a hint of the 1970s, a golden era of Piaget’s daring creativity. Asymmetry is a defining feature of the new rose jewels, suggesting the unstoppable, random growth of the natural world, and the ever-youthful energy of roses, life and love nurtured by the warmth of Piaget’s sun-drenched spirit.
Flowers and jewels go hand in hand through history. Amongst the earliest of adornments, flowers have held an irresistible challenge for every generation of goldsmiths and jewellers, in every age. The mystical beauty of the rose, the queen of flowers, the essence of femininity, the emblem of romance, holds a special allure for jewellers, the challenge of translating the flower’s voluptuous sensuality, channelling its emotions, turning the ephemeral into the eternal.
As Piaget shows to perfection – capturing the fleeting magnificence of the rose in the everlasting light of precious gems and metals, gold for lilting, silky softness and diamonds for dew-laden poetry.
About Piaget
Piaget epitomizes daring creativity – a quality that has continued to permeate through the Maison since its beginnings in 1874. From his first workshop in La Côte-aux-Fées, Georges-Edouard Piaget devoted himself to crafting high-precision movements in a feat that formed the very foundations of our pioneering name.
In the late 1950s, Piaget unveiled the ultra-thin movements that would later become the Maison’s trademark and the cornerstone of the Altiplano collection.
As a true innovator of the watch and jewellery world, Piaget strongly believed in creativity and artistic values. It is within the walls of our “ Ateliers de l’Extraordinaire ” where master artisans continue to harness rare skills that have been preserved and perfected from generation to generation, transforming gold, stones and precious gems into dazzling works of art. Through its pursuit of masterful craftsmanship, the Maison has created emblems of daring excellence channeled into its collections including Altiplano, Piaget Polo, Limelight Gala, Possession, Piaget Sunlight, Piaget Rose and Extremely Piaget.