Piaget have revived a classic timepiece, with a faithful recreation of the original Piaget Polo that took the world by storm in 1979.
It’s a big year for Piaget – they turn 150 this year, and the Polo ’79 will be the start of a year of celebrations for the luxury brand that’s been around now since 1874. Piaget are known for pioneering ultra-thin movements both in quartz and mechanical, and in the mid to late 70’s Piaget launched the famous 7P, at the time the thinnest quartz movement in the world. This movement equipped early examples of the Piaget Polo which was groundbreaking at the time as Yves Piaget wanted a luxury precious metal watch designed for sports.
“We really had to answer to this particular demand of our customers who are used to getting just dress watches. But now our customers like to do more and more sports. That’s part of the evolution of our lives today. They want to be exquisite, even in sport. They want to wear a better watch, even in their sports. So we created this sport line which is waterproof, shockproof.“
Yves Piaget – on the creation of the Polo in 1979
The Piaget Polo ’79 takes all its inspiration from this iconic piece which helped to redefine watches of the 80’s and have given it a 2024 treatment without losing any of the DNA from the piece over 40 years ago. The new Polo ’79 maintains the case proportions of the original 34mm but has increased this model to 38mm to be in line with luxury dress watches of today.
The integrated bracelet design, with the now iconic Piaget Gadroon style dial effortlessly blends into the bracelet as it was intended and gives the viewer an optical illusion of the sunken elements of the dial being rounded like on the case edges and bracelet. It is something you have to see in person to fully appreciate and how this piece plays with the light.
Piaget has obviously done away with the quartz movement in this piece and instead used their ultra-thin 1200P1 in-house self-winding calibre, complete with gold micro-rotor, circular striping and pearlage on the base plate. This allows for the new Polo ’79 to be a mere 7.45mm thick – a testament to Piaget’s expertise in ultra-thin automatic movements. The 2.35mm thick movement gives off a 44 hour power reserve thanks to the micro-rotor and beats away at 3Hz / 21,600 VpH.
The original was designed in two case sizes, 34mm and 28mm, and further to the round shape, a square shape was also offered, and done to make this, as Piaget advertising from the time states, “The world’s Ultimate Sportswatch for him or her”. It followed the trend of the late ’70s and early ’80s and was done in true Piaget fashion with 18k gold, which the Polo ’79 of 2024 continues with, making it an ultra-lux sports watch. These days, full gold sports pieces are less about the sports aspect and more about the show, but somehow Piaget has done this piece tastefully and isn’t too ostentatious even though it’s full yellow gold.
Final Thoughts
This is a vintage throwback through and through and stays pretty much true to the original Piaget Polo from 1979 and through the ’80s. Normally yellow gold watches are a little blingy and out there, but the Polo ’79 somehow seems to be less overstate and more subdued in nature. Maybe it’s the slim case profile and the integrated bracelet design that helps to sit and conform to the wrist? Or maybe it’s the stripped nature of the gadroons on the bracelet and dial?
Either way, the new 2024 version of the Polo ’79 is a thoughtful recreation of a classic icon and one for those who have a sense of nostalgia and also retro styling, not to mention the bank account to afford the six-figure price tag! And with Piaget making this piece limited in production (NOT a limited edition), then this is the pure definition of luxury in a sense – a piece that will be hard to get, not easy to afford, and steeped with some fantastic history of not only the Polo collection but Piaget overall.
Reference: GOA49150
Specifications:
- Case dimensions: 38mm diameter, 7.45mm thick
- Case Material: 18k Yellow Gold, brushed and polished
- Dial: 18k Yellow gold dial with gadroons, 18k yellow gold hands and indices
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal
- Movement: In house 1200P1 Automatic calibre with gold micro-rotor, beating at 21,600 VpH / 3Hz
- Water Resistance: 50M / 5ATM
- Power Reserve: 44 hours
- Bracelet: 18k yellow gold bracelet with folding clasp
Australian Recommended Retail Pricing: A$120,000
Availability: For availability, please contact Piaget via your local boutique or online at Piaget.com
