jewellery genre private founded la c te aux f es switzerland 1874 1874 founder georges edouard piaget headquarters geneva switzerland number of locations stores in 80 countries . 1 all parts are made in switzerland 2 area served world wide key people georges edouard piaget founder yves piaget president philippe leopold metzger chief executive officer products watches jewels parent richemont website piaget.com piaget sa french pronunciation pja . is a swiss luxury watchmakers and jewellers founded in 1874 by georges piaget in the village of la c te aux f es belongs to the swiss richemont group specialists in the luxury goods industry . the company was founded as a manufacturer of watch movements but began marketing its own line of watches in the 20th century . in 2008 the luxury institute jewellery brand study ranked piaget as the 6th most prestigious jewellery brand . citation needed contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 registered trademark 1.3 ultra thin movement and jewellery 1.4 rapid expansion 1.5 merger 1.6 new movement 1.7 ultra thin movement 1.8 tourbillon movement 1.9 tourbillon skeleton movement 1.10 retrograde movement 1.11 self winding movement 1.12 art of enamelling 1.13 setting and gemmology 2 prizes and awards 2.1 piaget best jeweller prize 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit origins edit in 1874 georges edouard piaget set up his first workshop on the family farm situated in the small village of la c te aux f es in the swiss jura mountains . 3 situated in the neuch tel region the company was dedicated to crafting pocket watches and high precision clock movements . in 1911 timoth e piaget the son of georges piaget took over the family firm . the company s policy has been to be dedicated to the production of wrist watches ever since . 4 registered trademark edit under the guidance of the founder s grandsons g rald and valentin piaget the piaget brand became a registered trademark in 1943 . since then the manufacture at la c te aux f es has produced its own creations . as a result of this expansion the family business opened a new factory in 1945 again in la c te aux f es . ultra thin movement and jewellery edit in 1957 the manufacture at la c te aux f es brought out the calibre 9p the first ultra thin 2 mm hand wound mechanical movement . then in 1960 the piaget watchmakers developed the calibre12p the thinnest automatic movement in the world with a thickness of 2.3 mm made official by an entry in the guinness book of records . in addition to coin watches ring watches brooch watches and cufflink watches piaget created their first pieces of jewellery . in 1957 the emperador men s watch was launched and since its relaunch in 1999 become one of the brand s emblematic models . the company s expansion led to the opening of a new factory in geneva dedicated to jewellery and in 1959 their first boutique . in 2014 piaget presented the altiplano 900p at 3.65 millimeters around 1 8th of an inch it is the world s thinnest hand wound mechanical watch . 5 rapid expansion edit in 1964 piaget presented their first watches with dials worked in precious stones lapis lazuli turquoise onyx and tiger s eye . piaget then launched the cuff watch . 1976 saw the launch of the calibre 7p a quartz movement . the piaget polo watch 6 with its avant garde style was brought out in 1979 and became one of the brand s iconic models . the dancer collection was launched in 1986 . the company has been under the presidency of yves piaget since 1980 . merger edit the luxury vend me group now richemont purchased the piaget manufacture in 1988 . in the 1990s several new collections were launched possession tanagra limelight and miss protocole with its interchangeable straps . piaget brought out the altiplano watch and in 1999 reinvented one of their classics the emperador line . watchmaking was regrouped in one collection black tie . new movement edit in 2001 a piaget haute horlogerie manufacture was opened in plan les ouates just outside geneva . the movements continued to be produced at la c te aux f es the family s birthplace . the new building grouped together over 40 professions in the fields of watchmaking and jewellery . the same year piaget added a youthful touch to the polo watch from the 1970s and launched the magic reflections collection . the manufacture developed mechanical movements and in 2002 brought out the first piaget manufacture tourbillon movement the calibre 600p the thinnest tourbillon in the world with 3.5 mm thickness . in 2004 piaget celebrated their 130th anniversary . ultra thin movement edit the brand is one of the forerunners in the creation of ultra thin movements 7 with the manual 9p and automatic 12p movements respectively the thinnest in their category in the world in 1957 and 1960 . this has led in more recent years to the modern developments 430p 450p and 438p with a thickness of only 2.1 millimetres . these latest innovations are used in the altiplano line the most recent of which is the altiplano 900p at 3.65 millimeter it is the world s thinnest hand wound mechanical watch . 8 tourbillon movement edit the tourbillon movement was developed over a period of three years . resulting from this research is the calibre 600p the thinnest tourbillon movement in the world 3.5 mm . its frame is particularly sophisticated composed of 42 minuscule parts including three titanium bridges it weighs just 0.2 grams . the flying tourbillon mounted on a single axis is topped by the initial p which adds to the complexity of the poising . tourbillon skeleton movement edit piaget s flying tourbillon movement is the thinnest of its kind in the world 3.5 mm . it is divided into segments corresponding to each of the 60 seconds a sunburst guilloche decoration shines out from the tourbillon s frame . the model is in gold and set with precious stones . 9 retrograde movement edit the calibre 560p is a self winding mechanical movement designed developed and built at the heart of manufacture piaget and boasting a complex retrograde seconds mechanism . the hand traces an arc from 0 to 30 at 12 o clock then jumps back to its starting point . the design of the handcrafted finishing details took 24 months circular c tes de gen ve decoration stippled main plate bevelled and hand drawn bridges as well as blued screws . self winding movement edit a new generation of self winding mechanical movements was launched in 2006 . the 800p with hours minutes central seconds hands and large date display is equipped with two barrels guaranteeing a power reserve of 72 hours . this 12 ligne calibre beats at 21 600 vibrations per hour 3 hertz and its timing is ensured by a screw regulated balance . the 850p version displays small seconds and a second time zone on two sub dials . a day night indicator synchronised with the central time zone completes the display . art of enamelling edit piaget continue the tradition of miniature painting thanks to a traditional technique . the enameller begins by crushing and cleaning raw enamels to obtain a very fine powder which is then mixed with essential oils to achieve the colour palette . the enamel is applied with a brush in successive fine layers each of which is oven fired at temperatures exceeding 800 c. each enamelled piece requires nearly twenty firings in the oven . the enamel and its colours are then set forever . setting and gemmology edit piaget own the largest jewellery workshop in geneva . every stone is cut adjusted and set by hand . the diamonds meet the highest standards of colour d to g and clarity if to vvs . the diamonds are tested according to in house guidelines based on their colour size clarity and carat . piaget are members of the council for responsible jewellery practices and the kimberley process certification scheme which guarantees that diamonds do not originate from an area of conflict . prizes and awards edit in 2000 the jury of montres passion awarded the prize of watch of the year to the emperador model . 10 at the geneva watchmaking grand prix the piaget 1967 watch was awarded the design watch prize in 2002 11 and the altiplano xl watch won the ultra flat watch prize in 2003 . 12 at the geneva watchmaking grand prix piaget were awarded the ladies jewellery watch prize in 2006 for their limelight party model . 13 in 2006 the limelight party watch was also elected most beautiful watch of 2006 by the magazine vogue joyas spain . 14 the piaget polo chronograph watch was elected watch of the year 2007 in the chronograph category by the jury of the french magazine la revue des montres . 15 the emperador model received the prize of men s watch of the year 2007 middle east watch of the year awards 2007 organised by the magazine alam assaat wal moujawharat . 16 the limelight party secret watch was named watch of the year 2007 in the ladies watch category by the belgian magazine passion des montres . 17 piaget best jeweller prize edit in 2005 piaget created their best jeweller prize . this prize is awarded to the most deserving student of the certificat f d ral de capacit in watchmaking . dorian recordon was the first holder of the qualification to receive this prize . see also edit geneva portal companies portal list of watch manufacturers references edit list of retailers ariel adams the making of piaget watches retrieved 2011 04 15 piaget and la c te aux f es 1 2 . read more about the history of piaget . archived december 18 2008 at the wayback machine . quill & pad piaget altiplano 900p ultra thin piaget polo 1979 3 . archived october 28 2008 at the wayback machine . ultra thin movements archived january 31 2009 at the wayback machine . quill & pad piaget altiplano 900p ultra thin http www.newzy.net 2010 11 09 piaget caliber 600p the thinnest movement read in french the article on montres de luxe . com . see an article about the prizes winner 2002 on worldtempus.com dead link see an article about the geneva watchmaking grand prix 2003 on worldtempus.com . dead link see http www.worldtempus.com pit wt 2 11682 . archived september 25 2008 at the wayback machine . see the article on worldtempus.com . dead link see prix officiels de la revue des montres . see the article the middle east watch of the year award . read the article in french on la montre dame de l ann e la limelight party lesoir.be . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to piaget sa . official website v t e brands owned by compagnie financi re richemont s.a. full ownership a. lange & s hne azzedine ala a baume & mercier cartier chlo dunhill giampiero bodino iwc schaffhausen jaeger lecoultre lancel manufacture roger dubuis montblanc officine panerai peter millar piaget purdey shanghai tang vacheron constantin van cleef & arpels joint ventures ralph lauren watch & jewelry company sarl 50 % other investments yoox net a porter group authority control worldcat identities viaf 210688375 lccn n93088383 gnd 1029955379 sudoc 034049711 hds 24971 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title piaget sa & oldid 743812424 categories richemont brandswatch brandsswiss watch brandscompanies established in 1874manufacturing companies established in 1874watch manufacturing companies of switzerlandluxury brands1874 establishments in switzerlandhidden categories articles with wayback machine linksall articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from june 2016all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from march 2009commons category with local link same as on wikidatawikipedia