Piaget unveils the Andy Warhol Watch ‘Collage’ Limited Edition – an ode to the artist’s legacy.
In its 150 years of existence, Piaget has introduced numerous watch and jewellery collections inspired by the creative arts. The maison masterfully marries the delicate, often intangible beauty of artistic crafts with the brilliance of precision watchmaking.
Andy Warhol was one of the prominent names of the Pop Art movement. He was also an avid watch collector. By the time of his death in 1987, he had amassed a collection of more than 300 timepieces, including seven Piaget models. In 2024, Piaget began a relationship with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and has since deepened it with a capsule watch that transmits the artist’s singular creativity to the wrist. The Andy Warhol Watch ‘Collage’ Limited Edition features a dial adorned with a marqueterie of colourful ornamental gemstones arranged in an abstract form that echoes one of his most celebrated Polaroid self-portrait collages, taken in 1986. The watch’s stepped 45mm case is cast in 18-carat yellow gold, and only 50 examples will be made.
The maison’s artistic director, Stéphanie Sivrière, and her team immersed themselves in Andy Warhol’s work and the collaboration, travelling to New York City to view archives opened by the foundation, visit exhibitions and devour countless books dedicated to the pop artist’s vast catalogue. The two parties agreed that in this first year of the partnership, the focus should fall on colour, a well-known feature of the artist’s portfolio. “We quickly learned that we wanted to express Andy Warhol, but without being obvious. To suggest, rather than to show. For its part, the foundation encouraged us to approach the project with freedom and to interpret his work in Piaget’s expressive, unbounded style. The result is a watch that tells the story of our collaboration, but that stands on its own as a piece of watchmaking art, a collectable inspired by one of history’s most prolific collectors,” said Stéphanie.
The dial motif of the Andy Warhol Watch ‘Collage’ Limited Edition comes to life with the careful application of four ornamental stones, shaped, cut and arranged using the ancient Métier d’Art of marquetry. The base, in black onyx, is complemented by thin slices of yellow Namibian serpentine, pink opal and green chrysoprase. These are surrounded by a stepped 45mm case crafted from 18-carat yellow gold and set on a green leather strap, a rich, mature colour chosen to add to the palette without distracting from the dial. The case back has a vertical satin finish. Inside the watch, Piaget has installed its in-house 501P1 self-winding mechanical calibre, a slimline power unit with a 40-hour power reserve decorated with circular Côtes de Genève stripes. This is overlaid with an engraved rendition of the Andy Warhol self-portrait on which the dial design is based, carrying Piaget’s logo and Andy Warhol’s signature – a wearable exclusive masterpiece.