There are libraries of books about your beloved and so special Royal Oak and even more books about your Big Red Daytona with the so unique Italian Ragazzi-patinae -- worth the read and detailing, indeed. About Piaget there is no such so far and it might come as a surprise, as it was the number one brand in the '70s and '80s always a step in front of Cartier before it was aquired by... Cartier. Well, so far there are simply no books besides the two coffee-table books -- one by Cologni, Negretti, Nencini and the other by Müller.

We try to fill this gap here, quick & dirty -- no books for sale; no talk for hours. Let's go.

On each (with some exceptions, but these will not be discussed here) Piaget-watch there are two numbers on the caseback: the reference (either a number or alphanumeric chars) on top and the case-serialnumber below this reference. Both are quite interesting, easy to read and easy to understand.

SERIAL NUMBER: The serial number allows you to date the production of the watch quite straight-forward and pretty exact. For now and as an anchor you could use 190'000 which translates to 1970-June. A second reference-point is the step from vintage to modern Piaget in 1988 / 1989 with serial number 500'000 right when the brand was taken over by Cartier / Richemont -- you can easily see the differences in both, modern & vintage Piagets and it corresponds quite good to this serialnumber / production-date.

REFERENCE: The case-back shows the reference also, right above the case-serialnumber. When the watch was delivered on a leather strap then it is just a number. If it was made with a metal-bracelet then this number is followed by an alphanumeric bracelet-code. The watch-reference always starts with the movement coded in the first or first two digits. The most common starters of the reference are as follows:

12 - automatic cal12P
13 - automatic cal12P
4 - manual cal4P
7 - quartz cal7P
8 - quartz cal8P
9 - manual cal9P

The following numbers define the case-design. So for example a 7131 is a rectangular case powered by a cal7P (quartz), while 9131 is a very similar case design moved by a manual-wound cal9P.

The bracelet-reference exists when your watch was originally delivered with a metal-bracelet. It always starts with a letter and this is followed by a number, defining a certain type and finishing of the bracelet. So for example a ref9805 is a classic Ladies-Piaget on a leather strap while 9805 A 6 is one with their amazing bracelet-design, where on link is two-way connected to the other and in hammered finishing.

Besides this reference with the bracelet-code you will recognize a small number stamped in your gold-bracelet, when it is not fix welded to the case but consists of removable links, like for example with an Emperador or Polo. This small number identifies the bracelet, like a serial-number and it should be the same on all parts of the bracelet: the two links connected to the case, the clasp and the link before the clasp.

SOOOPIAGET: What else that makes a Piaget special and might be noteworthy, as it is very different from your Patek, AP, IWC or VC? Well, as you might know when you followed our #makePiagetGreatAgain-posts (*klikk) Piaget is the only brand that made all parts of its watches in-house since the mid 1960s. They produced movements since 1874 and after their acquisiton of the Geneva goldsmith Ponti Gennari they also make all cases under their own roof, as well as their dials -- a reason they could invent the stone-dials in the mid 1960s as a pioneer and didnt have to rely on their suppliers offerings. And also a reason they could set-apart with the design of their heavy gold-bracelets and the lavish finishing of their highest quality gold-watches that reached perfection in the 1970s and were not reached by the competition for decades, if at all. That leads to the fact that their dials are usually not marked on the inside, as for example the dials made by Stern Freres Cadran (formerly Patek-owner family, now Richemont owned since 2000), Beyeler (acquired by Rolex in 2000) or Singer.

Also there is usually no Poincon de Maitre for the case-maker -- Piaget (PG or UR) made the case and bracelet by themselves and didnt buy from a 3rd party, like Patek, AP, IWC, VC etc did all the time in this era. Yes, you know there is not a single case made by PP in the '60s, '70s and '80s, right.

As everything is quite the highest quality you can expect that even your 1970s Piaget uses a sapphire crystal -- no Plexi, no mineral glass.

Ah, and it might be interesting to know that all Piaget-watches in their vintage era were designed by Jean-Claude Gueit -- no Genta-, no Albert- and no Grima-design. The type of no-compromise design that you get from one designer that is backed by a brave company. The Bruno-Sacco-type of design, that requires a deep understanding of the product but no discussions or a diverse team. And you might have heard this name Gueit before -- indeed, Jean-Claude is the father of the modern-watch designer Emmanuel Gueit (APRO Offshore etc).

Nice, so in short this is it and the details can fill books. But not for today. When you have anything to add, correct or like -- please let me know.

Ad 2024-10-02: Yes, Piaget made all of its jewels in precious metal, only -- gold & platinum. The idea of a steel-watch was several times strictly rejected by Yves Piaget and only after the assimilation into the Richemont Group Piaget made watches in steel, also.

"Gold gab Ich für Eisen."

And this is also interesting because of another aspect: Vintage Piagets were some of the most counterfeited watches in the '80s. But they are usually easy to spot: steel or gold-plated and made of lousy quality. Indeed: innovations, superior quality and expensive materials are probably the best protection against counterfeiting, ...that's what I thought to myself as I leafed through the actual offerings by the Premium Maisons de Horology.