If for the fourth time L'Orologio Club returns to visit Piaget there must be a reason. In fact, for our readers, it is always a very stimulating experience that combines the techniques of fine mechanical watchmaking with sophisticated and ultra-flat movements with the beauty and exclusivity of the most refined jewellery art, where refined workmanship such as the setting of precious stones manages to captivate even the most technical enthusiast, generally only interested in gears and gears. On 27 and 28 May, therefore, we accompanied five members of L'Orologio Club on a visit to the brand's historical headquarters in La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Jura mountains, where the movements are assembled, and then to Geneva, in the Plan-les-Ouates district, where the cases and final assembly are made and where the Maison's jewellery also takes shape. Indeed, Piaget's is an integrated manufacture at all levels, from design to industrialisation to the production of all components and final assembly. Accompanied by cool but not inclement weather, as is often the case in the mountains of cold Switzerland, our first stop was at La Côte-aux-Fées, a true institution since 1874. Over 20,000 movements are made here every year: components, decoration and finishing, assembly and adjustment are carried out with great skill and meticulous care. Particularly interesting is the work of the atelier in manually finishing and decorating the components, which best explains the difference between an industrial and a haute horlogerie movement. Anglage or perlage, for example, are done by hand. And this is one of the things that particularly struck our members here: both Luca Sotgiu and Daniele Lagostena, in fact, particularly noted 'the importance of craftsmanship in a production that is not very automated', as well as 'a very high level of workmanship in the various stages of manufacture'. And for Salvatore Bova, the impression gained is that of 'an ancient company projected into the future, rediscovering ancient values to position itself today in an elite market'. The brand produces almost exclusively extra-thin movements (including the world's thinnest tourbillon), which require minimal machining tolerances to guarantee perfect functioning. The workmanship is extremely meticulous and painstaking: consider, for example, that the decoration of a tourbillon bridge of the 1270 calibre takes between two and four hours; for a plate, around eight hours. In the assembly department, each watchmaker carries out the assembly of a movement from A to Z and, once the adjustment is complete, the movements are subjected to strict running checks in this same department for three weeks. The movements are then cased in Geneva, with the exception of the large complications, which are cased in La Côte-aux-Fées, as the delicate assembly requires the careful attention of a single expert watchmaker right up to the last adjustment, after casing. The next day, we moved to the new factory in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva, located in the midst of the other giants of Swiss watchmaking, from Patek Philippe to Rolex. The technical department is in charge of prototyping the new watches, first with a drawing made with a 3D programme and then with an actual prototype made of the same material as the case. "It was particularly interesting to be able to see the workstation with the computer vision of the case in 3D with the designers finding solutions to problems," says Ignazio Pilloni. The development process of a watch takes about a year, from the initial design to the production of the prototype. Moving on to the production department, our members were able to see the numerically controlled machines for the production of all the elements that make up the watch cases, from the case frames to the bezels, including the tiny gold screws that close the case backs. The finishing of all components is done by hand. Here, all precious metal processing waste (about 50%) is recovered and melted down into ingots for reuse. Particularly striking for the CLUB members was a visit to the high jewellery department: two million stones pass through these halls every year, which end up on the Maison's most precious creations. "I did not know the high competence and tradition that the brand has in jewellery", said Daniele Lagostena; "I discovered the high level of the jewellery department", wrote Luca Sotgiu. For Ignazio Pilloni, 'the microscope vision of the positioning and fixing of the brilliants was a breathtaking emotion, also because I was holding an identical piece that was already finished and I went from the microscope vision on the screen to the real one! Every now and then I think about it and ask myself: but how do you divide 20 hundredths of a millimetre into equal parts and then also machine them?". 'I was amazed to discover,' says Salvatore Bova, 'the great expertise and specialisation in making precious objects and the art of gem-setting. Piaget represents a perfect combination of high-end watchmaking and jewellery production'. Precious stones are used for jewellery, but also to embellish bezels, buckles or bracelets on watches, and each year the brand creates a jewellery collection according to a different theme. The setting process at Piaget is a true art, carried out in close collaboration with the designers. Once the number of gems and their placement have been determined, the artisans sculpt the metal to make the bezel in which the stone will be placed, which will then be selected to be placed precisely inside. After setting, each stone is checked individually. In the last part of our journey through the Piaget universe, we were taken to the Time Gallery for a visit to the exhibition 'The Magic of Jewellery'. The Piaget Time Galleries illustrate the history and heritage of the brand with thematic exhibitions. The one in Geneva, on the first floor of the boutique in rue du Rhône, was the first to be opened by the House in 2009, followed by those in Hong Kong and Shanghai. But it is to the words of our members that we leave the task of concluding by describing the brand values conveyed by this visit. For Ignazio Pilloni, they were 'passion, great professionalism, teamwork and a love of beauty. Any product that comes out of the manufacture is to be considered a jewel, not only for the diamonds and stones but also for the joint work of 40 craftsmen who give the best of themselves'. "The visit - for Salvatore Bova - brought out a vision of Piaget as a big family, at work to create masterpieces"; while for Luca Sotgiu, the brand expresses "passion and imagination in its creations, as well as the pursuit of perfection" and for Daniele Lagostena, Piaget is "tradition, seriousness and the will to pursue this direction, even at the expense of production volumes that are unable to meet market demand. A manufacture oriented towards high-end jewellery and watchmaking production'.
