A symbol which sums up the maison of Piaget is a play of shapes. And, in the 1960s, when the brand started playing with jewellery watches, it blurred the lines between jewellery and watches. “And if you take a look at this era there is one shape that really steals the spotlight, it was the trapezoid shape,” said Stéphanie Sivrière, creative director at Piaget, in an email.
This shape has now been reinterpreted for four watches in what is called the Sixtie collection, released on April 1, 2025.
According to Ms. Sivrière, everything is a huge challenge with such an unusual shape.
“From a design standpoint, it takes forever to master the right size, curves, balance. Then creating a bracelet that matches, of course,” she said of the watches that are 29 millimetres at its widest point.
As Ms. Sivrière is a known advocate for mechanical movements in women’s watches, it comes as a surprise that the six trapezoid-shaped watches in the Sixtie collection are all powered by quartz movements. “Only a new bespoke movement would have fit a case so specific, but it would have added so much height,” she said, adding that “it doesn’t mean we’re not thinking about adding something automatic in the upcoming years, let’s see”.
The return of the trapezoid shape comes almost 60 years after it was first introduced in 1969 in the 21st Century collection, driven by its designer Jean-Claude Gueit (father of watch designer Emmanuel Gueit who, among many things, designed the first Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore). This ground-breaking collection brought not only the trapezoid shape, but cuffs and sautoirs, where the watch is worn around the neck on a long chain. “I think all the exciting designs from all the maisons were done in that time frame, so it’s an exciting era for the watch industry as a whole,” said Ms. Sivrière of the 1960s and 1970s. “It’s an era in itself.”
The trapezoid shape of today is a contemporary creation: Proportions have been revised, and the light play on the asymmetric case is intense thanks to an interplay of finishes with different textures, and the chiselled parallel gadroons running around the case. The trapezoid shape is also revisited in the links of the supple gold bracelets.
In 2023 Piaget was one of the brands resurrecting the sautoir watch. “It’s something so Piaget,” Ms. Sivrière said. “We’re beyond thrilled to see that it’s going beyond our expectations, we’re even struggling to keep some to exhibit during fairs like Watches and Wonders. I’m afraid we’re not going to have the Sixtie Swinging Sautoir for a long time, I will probably have to say goodbye to this piece faster than expected.”
With shaped watches there is an old saying that people like to look at shaped watches, but in the end, they buy round watches. This is also a reality for a brand like Piaget, which leads to discussions between the marketing and design teams. “Such conversations wouldn’t be happening in 1969; design came first then. Nowadays, we have to answer to modern wishes and diverse tastes, but thankfully at Piaget we can play with different lines, from Altiplano to Polo to Gala, or different categories between traditional watchmaking or jewellery watches. The only thing that connects it all is the Piaget distinction. There is always an element of surprise, of boldness, of colour to everything we do,” concluded Ms. Sivrière.
