PALATIAL TIMEKEEPING

As Piaget celebrates 50 years of the Limelight Gala collection, the maison’s mastery of the Palace Décor style comes under the spotlight

WITH A HISTORY spanning nearly 150 years, Piaget has launched quite a few iconic collections, from the innovative Altiplano to the statementmaking Emperador. And then there’s the Limelight Gala, introduced in the 1970s as one of the earliest – if not the very first – watch collection designed exclusively for women. That era, as it happens, also saw the Piaget Society at its prime, marked by fabulous parties attended by the likes of Salvador Dali, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Cary Grant and Sami Davis Jr. It was, for sure, the ideal backstory for a watch model that would grow into a feminine icon celebrating elegance and harmony.

Since its inception, the Limelight Gala continues to showcase the hallmarks of Piaget’s artisanship. With its sensual curves, cambered case and asymmetrical lugs that extend from each side of the case onto the bracelet, the modern interpretation of the Limelight Gala reproduces the same design as its storied precursor: Perfectly integrated case and lugs that are combined with a swirl of exquisite gemstones, ornate dials and sumptuous gold bracelets.

The story of the Limelight Gala continues well into 2020 with a dazzling novelty, the Limelight Gala Precious. And “precious” is indeed an apt descriptor for the new watch. The case, dial and bracelet are in white gold, with the dial covered in blue enamel. The bezel is set with 20 brilliant-cut diamonds and 22 brilliant-cut blue sapphires set in a subtle gradient of different shades of blue. Arguably the definite highlight of the Limelight Gala Precious, however, is the Palace Décor motif engraved on the dial and bracelet.

On that note, Piaget is one of the few remaining maisons with the savoir-faire to create handmade gold bracelets. The process is,

interestingly enough, akin to haute couture. The artisan starts with hundreds of gold links, which will be tightly assembled. These miniature links are then soldered together, resulting in a bracelet that is remarkably supple. After that comes the hand engraving which, for the Limelight Gala Precious, is done in the Palace Décor style, one of Piaget’s most iconic motifs.

These palatial motifs – which feature designs inspired by natural patterns including wood, fur and snow – are done by a handful of artisans at Piaget’s Ateliers de l’Extraordinaire. The process is extremely time-consuming, especially for the dial, as it is always carried out by the same engraver working on the bracelet to ensure uniformity of design. The translucent grand feu enamel in blue covering the dial further enhances the Palace Décor motif, but certainly increases the complexity of manufacture by several orders of magnitude.

Last but definitely not least, finding the perfect gemstones to decorate the bezel adds yet another challenge to the creation of the Limelight Gala Precious. In short, the maison has to go through a huge quantity of precious stones to obtain diamonds and sapphires of the requisite size and colour range to create the mesmerizing gradation on the bezel. These gems are then set by hand using the Serti Descendu technique which allows the maximum amount of light to pass through the diamonds.

Brought to life by so many rare crafts and the cream of the crop in terms of materials, Limelight Gala Precious elegantly represents Piaget’s rich

savoir-faire and is indeed one of the most precious timepieces of the year.