The inimitable Piaget Limelight Gala receives an exuberant rework in celebration of light and colour.
The Piaget Limelight Gala is an instantly recognisable symbol of the Maison, with its asymmetrical cascade of jewels around a dainty oval dial, dressed with a decadent bracelet in signature hand-worked Palace Décor style.
A jewel in the crown of exquisite luxury watchmaking, the Limelight Gala was inspired by the Piaget Society and its fabulous parties with film stars, artists, clients, and friends of the Maison who shared a certain art de vivre – the likes of Salvador Dali, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Andy Warhol, no less.
For Watches and Wonders 2021, Piaget presented six new Limelight Gala timepieces in various pops of colour.
For the very first time in its history, Piaget embarked on a delightful new foray into coloured gem-setting for a numbered, and limited edition model – the Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow – featuring a rainbow array of green tsavorites and coloured sapphires that range from red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet, taking centrestage around the bezel and on the lugs of a 32mm case.
Following on the heels of the malachite version in 2019 and the sapphire edition in 2020, this design continues to push the envelope of an intricate in-house technique known as Serti Descendu, which magnifies the brilliance of each gemstone. Also known as the cut-down setting, this technique involves carving away the gold setting to form near-invisible claws and grooves to hold the gemstone in place, allowing maximum light to pass through for optimum luminosity.
Sourcing progressively-sized, coloured gemstones of this calibre is extremely challenging. Piaget’s gemologists searched long and hard for the exact colours, carat, cut, and clarity, explaining why the series is numbered and limited.
The Limelight Gala Mother-of-Pearl Palace watch is as icy and quiet as the Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow is a live firework – featuring a rose gold case adorned with the finest quality diamonds and a delicately engraved mother-of-pearl dial housed in a 26mm case. This Limelight Gala model is limited to 300 pieces and comes on a white alligator strap.
Celebrating the light of day, are the Limelight Gala Precious Sunrise, Limelight Gala Precious Zenith, and Limelight Gala Precious Sunset in colours of blue (for the morning sky), yellow (representing the sun at its zenith), and pink (depicting the glow of the setting sun) respectively. Each limited edition model is adorned with a flowing gradient of coloured sapphires and diamonds, and powered by Piaget’s automatic movement Calibre 501P1.
To complete the spectrum, to the richness of earth, would be the Limelight Gala High Jewellery Black Opal. An exquisite high-jewellery creation that features a rare black opal dial from Australia, accentuated by a row of 91 brilliant-cut diamonds encircling the bezel, lugs, and bracelet running alongside 83 marquise-cut emeralds. This stunning timepiece is powered by the Maison’s 56P quartz movement.
Images courtesy of Piaget, artwork by Curatedition. All rights reserved.
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