My discovery of the Pirro jewellery house was a surprise from start to finish. It began with a message from a colleague to meet her in our conference room. Not knowing why I had been summoned, I grabbed my notebook and charged into the room, only to find two smartly dressed women waiting for me on the company sofa. After an awkward introduction (on my side), it quickly transpired that they were from the Albanian brand Pirro and they had just submitted their first-ever watch to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) in the category for Artistic Crafts.
A Fascinating Tale
As they told the story of their brand and its founder, it sounded more like the stuff of a Netflix drama than the usual new-watch-brand story. The tale began in the 1980s with Pirro Ruço, a mechanical engineering student living in Berat, Albania. His family was persecuted during the communist era and he was forbidden from continuing his studies. Far from content with this new state of affairs, he decided to find another way forward. Turning his bedroom into a workshop, he developed a pantograph that could reproduce an image of the leader’s head on coins and medals. He presented it to the Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, who was not only extremely impressed by the young man’s work but granted him the right to continue his studies in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering where he could develop his skills further.
Once his studies were complete, he set up a laboratory and continued to make coins and medals for the country’s leaders as well as jewellery and other works of art. Over the years, he would bring his creations to BaselWorld, where he would meet several watchmakers, whose work intrigued him and would provide the spark for his very own watch.
Back in the Conference Room
Back in the conference room, more colleagues had now joined our meeting, all of whom were hanging on to Alba Ruco’s (Pirro Ruco’s daughter) every word. She casually asked if we would like to see the watch, to which we all nodded enthusiastically, like primary school children at storytime! Gloves and a velvet-lined tray magically appeared and the watch was presented in all its glory to a collective “wow”.
Primordial Passion Unique Piece
What first caught our eye were the 12 miniature dancers in 18-karat yellow gold, each one representing a different region. They were holding hands and dancing together under a large sapphire crystal dome in a scene that was so intricately decorated that you could even see the embroidery on the ladies’ dresses. While only 9-10mm tall, the figurines hold all the characteristics of a true sculpture. The backdrop of the dial was created from a micro-mosaic of Murano glass stones in eight different shades of red and black using 64 different cuts, the smallest being only 0.2mm. Over 25,000 mosaic pieces needed to be cut to provide the final 1,500 mosaic tiles that would become the dial. By doing so, Pirro managed to meticulously set the stones in a design and technique that had never been used before; this in itself is an audacious novelty at the 2024 GPHG.
The centre of the dial was also of note as it featured four musicians with their Albanian instruments seated within a black-gold eagle structure.
Agenhor Connection
Seeing such a watch, we were almost scared to ask about the movement, for fear of it not matching the level of artisanal craftwork that we were witnessing. We need not have worried, however, as Ruco had chosen to work with the master watchmakers at Agenhor for an exclusive movement that indicates the hours and minutes with hands shaped like eagle claws no less.
For a new watch brand, Pirro is certainly a wonderful surprise on so many levels. Let’s hope this surprise factor will also lead to a GPHG nomination for the newcomer, who in my humble opinion, is going to catch the attention of the world’s watch collectors, with or without a trophy.
