Piaget Bets on ’80s Nostalgia With $73,000 Watch in Solid Gold
With the Piaget Polo79, the ’80s are back!
The Piaget Polo79.
Photographer: Rene Cervantes for Bloomberg Businessweek
Dress watches from the 1960s and ’70s have been the rage for a couple of years now—whether it’s a vintage ’60s Omega Genève with a linen-textured gold dial or a new release such as the Heritage Chronometer Celebration line from Carl F. Bucherer, which indulges in the metal mesh bracelets of the era. So what’s next in the retro rotation? The bold, bright chic of the 1980s, of course. Back then, Piaget’s Polo watches were worn alongside G.H. Bass Weejuns penny loafers and colorful polos from Ralph Lauren; they were all proud hallmarks of New England country club elitism and laid-back California cool. This month, the brand is rereleasing its most recognizable watch of the period as the Polo79, with a banded construction that looks like it was carved from one contiguous hunk of 18-karat yellow gold.
THE COMPETITION