The Piaget Andy Warhol watch debuts a new design interpretation, featuring a stunning Clou de Paris pattern on the case and a powerful blue meteorite dial. A new chapter and identity for this collector cult favourite.
Created in 1972 and produced for less than a decade before its revival in 2014, this elegant masterpiece is today synonymous with the artist and cultural icon, Andy Warhol (1928-1987). A friend of the Maison, who was a key member of the Piaget Society, Andy Warhol owned no less than seven Piaget watches. But among this eclectic collection, the watch that he is most associated with is the era-defining Beta21 movement, previously named the Black Tie watch. With its daring and bold 45mm-diameter cushion-shape case, which is elegantly ringed with signature gadroons, the design has become a collector reference – coveted by watch enthusiasts all over the world.
Now, thanks to an official new collaboration under license with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Piaget and the Foundation have formally renamed the timepiece: the Andy Warhol watch. The first watch celebrating this exciting union is a new and contemporary design interpretation: the Andy Warhol Clou de Paris watch. Featuring a shimmering Clou de Paris finish on the case, the launch is further complemented by Piaget’s enhanced Made to Order personalization service, inviting collectors to create their very own Andy Warhol watch.
“The Andy Warhol Foundation is delighted to celebrate the bond between Warhol and Piaget through an eponymous watch with an ethos as timeless, iconic, and singular as its namesake.” said Michael Dayton Hermann, Director of Licensing, Marketing, and Sales at The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
“We are deeply honoured and delighted by the trust that the Andy Warhol Foundation is showing in Piaget, highlighting the deep and sincere relationship between the Maison and Andy Warhol. A new dawn for this very unique timepiece, beloved by all,”
said Benjamin Comar, CEO of Piaget.
REIMAGINING AN ICON
One of horology’s most refined and elegant decorative techniques, Clou de Paris – also known as hobnail – is a guilloché motif featuring a jewellery-like pattern of small, pyramid-like squares. The decoration is firmly a part of Piaget’s DNA and adorned its most stylish watches in the 1970s, from round to shaped designs. But playing with an icon is never easy, and for the Andy Warhol watch, Piaget’s Ateliers de l’Extraordinaire spent 10 months developing and perfecting the Clou de Paris finish on the white gold case. Reminiscent of the original signature gadroons, the challenge lay in the watch’s cushion-shaped case. Not only did the Clou de Paris pattern has to be meticulously hand-finished on a curved, rather than flat, surface, it also had to achieve the same subtle layering, wondrous play of light and alluring artistry of the original gadroons.
Complementing this finish is a one-of-a-kind blue meteorite dial. Featuring a powerful hue and unique reflection, the meteorite nods to Piaget’s signature in designing with ornamental stones and is a distinctive material that the Maison has reserved for extraordinary creations. Here, the blue meteorite adds a sense of rarity and distinction to the new Andy Warhol watch. A final vintage flourish highlights the design’s singular character: dauphine-style hands and elegant indexes.
With its new Clou de Paris decoration and bold vintage identity – and powered by the in-house 501P1 Manufacture self-winding movement –the new Andy Warhol watch Clou de Paris feels like a natural part of the collection. It is a fresh and contemporary addition to a namesake collection that features only a handful of interpretations to date: among them 2023’s High Jewellery Metaphoria piece with baguette-cut emeralds framing a petrified wood dial; rose gold models with malachite and black dials; and among all the bespoke pieces, a private collection of 10 unique Andy Warhol watches which was exhibited in the Society Bar of Piaget’s booth during Watches and Wonders 2023.
ANDY WARHOL AND PIAGET
In 1973, Andy Warhol acquired his Piaget Black Tie watch, adding to the six other Piaget timepieces that he owned (four of which are today part of Piaget’s Private Collection). Andy Warhol became an authentic friend of the Maison, having met Yves Piaget in 1979 in New York. The pair developed a close bond, with Andy Warhol a regular member of the Piaget Society, travelling with Yves Piaget to glamorous events hosted in New York and Palm Beach. Both were also frequently spotted among the beau monde at the likes of Studio 54 and Chez Régine. In 1983, Yves Piaget was profiled in Interview magazine, the publication Warhol founded in 1969, featuring a discussion with the young artist and gallery owner Robert Lee Morris.
Andy Warhol truly embodies the spirit of Piaget and Piaget Society. His unique and historic friendship with Yves Piaget has now been recognised by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
RARE SPECIMENS
An important collectors’ reference and a watch that changed the course of history, the Andy Warhol watch grew by word-of-mouth to become one of the most coveted and collectible luxury timepieces today. To further celebrate the launch of this icon, Piaget has enhanced its made to order service, continuing a personalisation offering that dates back to Piaget’s first Geneva boutique in 1959, and which in more recent years has relaunched as the Infinitely Personal concept.
For the new Andy Warhol watch, clients will be offered a host of customization options, starting with up to 10 different ornamental stone dials, and the meteorite dial. Among the new possibilities is eye-catching falcon eye, which joins existing Piaget signatures which have long been popular with clients, like turquoise and malachite. This can be matched with up to five different colours for the leather strap, while collectors can also opt for either the new dauphine-style hands or the original batons. Finally, the case can come in either white or rose gold enabling watch lovers to, not unlike Andy Warhol, proudly create a piece of art for their wrists. A revamped service launched as the exciting next chapter for this iconic timepiece begins.
