At the annual Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva this week, few brands are expected to introduce new designs. Luxury watchmakers recently have been consolidating collections around classics, reducing the number of models and focusing on best-selling ones. Some analysts have called it a “flight to quality” as the industry battles declining sales.
One brand plans to buck that trend, though. At the fair, Piaget is to introduce Sixtie, a small trapezoid bracelet watch inspired by one of its designs from the late 1960s.
Piaget’s chief executive, Benjamin Comar, said he believed the unconventional shape would attract new buyers. “Some customers will discover Piaget through it and how distinctive we are in this market,” he said.
Stéphanie Sivrière, Piaget’s artistic director, described the 29-millimeter Sixtie as “the little sister of the Andy Warhol watch,” referring to the larger cushion-shape Piaget that the Pop artist wore in the 1970s and that Piaget reintroduced, with the Warhol name, as a low-volume 45-millimeter piece late last year. She added that the two could be considered “a couple offer of vintage Piaget watches: his and hers.”
Sixtie, the brand hopes, will sustain the momentum that Piaget generated last year during its 150th anniversary. (Richemont, Piaget’s owner, does not disclose the revenue of individual brands.)
“It was a very good year for us to connect with the customer about the identity, culture and history of Piaget, which was a bit forgotten,” Mr. Comar said. “With products like the Polo 79, the high jewelry collection and the Andy Warhol collection, we showed what Piaget is about. That was what we wanted to do.”
Mr. Comar said the battery-powered quartz Sixtie had a specific role to play. “There is space in our range for a more daily watch,” he said. “Sixtie is still very sophisticated, but it’s a daily watch in the jewelry watch section.” The entry-level model, at $11,500, has a stainless steel case and bracelet and a bezel set with 51 brilliant-cut diamonds.
While the name may be new, the Sixtie design is derived from one created by Jean-Claude Gueit, the celebrated designer who took control of Piaget’s design department after his employer, the goldsmith Ponti, Gennari & Co., acquired the brand in 1967. He revitalized Piaget’s design story, playing with asymmetry and precious stones to create the style it is still known for today.
At Piaget, Sixtie’s trapezoid shape was first seen in 1969 in both wristwatches and sautoirs, the long, decorative necklaces that sometimes featured multiple watch pendants. The new Sixtie collection is to include a gold sautoir set with a single watch pendant set with diamonds (expected to be about $300,000).
Picking up on the recent trend of men wearing small watches, Mr. Comar said Sixtie was not explicitly aimed at women. “We think it will be mostly women buying this watch,” he said. “But our customers are free to wear what they want, so I don’t say it’s a women’s watch: it’s a small model watch.”
Mr. Comar said he was confident of the model’s success, even while the watch market was forecast to contract again this year. “It’s not a gamble,” he said. “When you launch a line, it’s not for one year, it’s for a long time.”
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