Who Owns Piaget?

Georges-Edouard Piaget established a watch movement workshop in 1874 in La Cote-aux-Fees, a small village in the Jura mountains of the Neuchatel canton in Switzerland. He was 19 years old. The workshop initially produced precision movements that Piaget sold to other watchmaking companies. This was a common practice in the Swiss watch industry, where specialized ateliers supplied components to brands that assembled and sold finished watches.

The business remained a family operation through the first half of the 20th century. Georges-Edouard's son, Timothee Piaget, took over management and expanded production. In 1943, the Piaget family registered the Piaget name as a trademark and began producing complete watches under their own brand name for the first time. This shift from component supplier to brand owner was a significant strategic decision that positioned Piaget as a manufacturer of finished luxury timepieces.

In 1957, Piaget released the 9P manual-winding caliber, a movement only 2 millimeters thick. This was one of the thinnest mechanical movements ever produced. Three years later, in 1960, Piaget introduced the 12P automatic caliber at 2.3 millimeters thick, the thinnest automatic movement in the world at the time. These two movements established Piaget's reputation for ultra-thin watchmaking, a positioning the brand has maintained for more than 60 years.

The 1960s were a period of expansion. Piaget opened a new manufacturing facility in Geneva in 1960 to handle case-making, assembly, and finishing, while the original La Cote-aux-Fees workshop continued producing movements. The brand began producing jewelry watches, setting diamonds and other precious stones into watch cases and bracelets. This combination of watchmaking and high jewelry became Piaget's defining characteristic. The brand also introduced coin watches, cuff watches, and watches with hard stone dials made from lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, and malachite.

In 1964, Piaget presented its first full jewelry collection at a launch event in Geneva. The brand was now operating as both a watchmaker and a jeweler. During this period, Piaget gained prominence among international clients, particularly in the United States, where the brand attracted celebrity clients including Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Gina Lollobrigida.

The Piaget Polo was introduced in 1979. Designed as a luxury sport watch, the Polo featured an integrated bracelet and a case that blended seamlessly with the band. The Polo became one of Piaget's most commercially successful collections and remains a core product line today. The brand also launched the Dancer collection in the 1980s, which featured slim dress watches with decorative cases.

Richemont acquired Piaget in 1988 as part of the formation of the conglomerate. The Rupert family had built Richemont through the Rothmans International tobacco business and began acquiring luxury assets in the 1980s. Piaget joined Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, and other maisons in the newly formed group. Under Richemont's ownership, Piaget maintained its own creative direction, manufacturing, and brand management.

In 1998, Piaget introduced the Emperador collection, which expanded the brand's presence in the complicated watch segment. The Emperador line included tourbillon, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar models. In 2001, Piaget opened a new high-watchmaking workshop in La Cote-aux-Fees dedicated to complicated movements. The brand also established a jewelry workshop in Plan-les-Ouates, a suburb of Geneva, in 2003.

The Altiplano collection, named after the high plateau in the Andes, was formally launched as a collection line in the 2000s. The Altiplano became Piaget's flagship ultra-thin watch line. In 2010, Piaget introduced the 1200P caliber, a 2.35mm automatic movement that set a record as the thinnest automatic movement in the world. In 2014, the brand released the 900P, a 3.65mm hand-wound movement that was the thinnest mechanical watch in the world at the time.

In recent years, Piaget has continued to release new iterations of the Altiplano and Polo collections. The brand has also expanded its high jewelry offerings, presenting annual high jewelry collections at events in Paris and Monaco. In 2024, Piaget introduced the Polo Date in a new 36mm case size, targeting a broader audience. The brand also released the Altiplano Ultimate Concept in a limited production version, originally presented as a concept watch in 2018.

As of 2026, Piaget operates within a challenging market for Swiss watch exports. The Specialist Watchmakers division at Richemont reported a 4% decline in sales at actual exchange rates for the fiscal year ended March 2026, though the division returned to modest growth at constant rates in the second half. Richemont reduced the number of Piaget boutiques as part of a broader store count optimization across the Specialist Watchmakers segment, which saw total stores fall from 932 to 908.