Considered one of the most beautiful sports watches ever produced, the Polo is undoubtedly the most iconic model of the Piaget house.
Forty-five years after its creation, as the brand from La Côte-aux-Fées is about to celebrate its 150th anniversary, it comes back in a modernized version but still faithful to the original: the Polo 79 is a masterpiece in solid gold that is not likely to go unnoticed!
With the Polo, the wristwatch becomes the watch bracelet
It’s not just the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso that creates a link between watchmaking and polo! At a time when the sporty-chic look is becoming essential in the sector, with the development of steel watches that have become iconic (the Royal Oak and Nautilus designed by Gérald Genta), Piaget is looking to develop a model that would meet the expectations of its most demanding clients.
Eminent horseman, Yves Piaget then envisioned a model that would be as comfortable on a horse as in the most upscale nightclubs: “Today, our clients increasingly enjoy sports. It’s part of the evolution of current lifestyles. They seek refinement and want to wear a better watch, even when practicing their sport. That’s why we created this chic sports line that is both waterproof and shock resistant.”
We are in 1979 and the Piaget Polo is introduced with great fanfare, presented as a “masterpiece of modern and aesthetic design” and even “the ultimate sports watch”. Its case and bracelet are fused together, to the point where the “wristwatch” becomes “bracelet watch” (a phenomenon amplified by the model unveiled in 1981). But above all, the Polo is entirely made of gold.
Solid and waterproof, looking as if it was carved from a single block, the new Piaget star is powered by the calibre 7P launched in 1976, the thinnest quartz movement in the world. Long before the records broken by the Altiplano, the brand has thus already distinguished itself by its feats in the field of thickness.
45 years later, the Piaget Polo 79 is still as flashy
Nearly half a century after its creation, the Polo has not lost any of its charm. And as it prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary, the Piaget house offers it a sublime rebirth. Still glamorous, always glittering, the Polo 79 has not aged a bit, faithful to the original yet completely in tune with the times.
The words of Piaget to summarize it seem rather well chosen: “If there is no shortage of watches for elegant sports, there is only one elegant watch for sport.” Slightly enlarged to 38 mm (with a thickness of 7.45 mm), the case is still made of 18 karat gold, perfectly integrated into the bracelet (unless it’s the other way around). The pattern that alternates between satin links and polished gadroons extends from the bracelet to the dial without any demarcation. Even the hands and the crown are made of gold and seem to blend into the mass.
The biggest change made to this Polo 79 is ultimately the one that is not visible. Or only on the back. Piaget has indeed swapped its quartz movement for an extra-thin 1200P1 automatic manufacture caliber, which can be admired through the sapphire case-back and provides 44 hours of power reserve.
Not exceeding 200 grams on the scale, the new Piaget Polo 79 hugs the wrist like a second skin. More than a watch, it’s a jewel, in every sense of the word; a work of art for which the roughly 70,000 euros asked should not scare off connoisseurs.
