As brand ambassadors for the Swiss timekeepers, the Ellerstina Piaget polo team of brothers  Gonzalito, Facundo and Nicolas Pieres along with their cousin Polito Pieres visited the site in the Genevan suburb of Plan-les-Ouates, where CEO Philippe Léopold-Metzger and his team gave them an exclusive guided tour of the stylish facilities designed by Swiss architects Pierre Studer SA.  

First opened in 2001 on a plot of land covering 30,000 m2, the building, in which more than forty specialist professionals work to add the distinctive hand finishes to all of Piaget’s collection, now has a total floor space of over 9,000 m2, incorporating a dedicated prototype workshop and after-sales service that works alongside the production lines.  Reflecting attention to every detail in their designs, entry to the main building is via a footbridge symbolising a watch hand on the circular building which is in the shape of a watch dial.  

Originally founded by Georges Édouard Piaget on his family farm in 1874, solely to make ‘movements’ which were sold to the most famous Swiss brands, the Piaget name was subsequently registered by his grandsons Gérald and Valentin Piaget in 1943, when the company also started signing its own watches.  Due to the success of the brand a manufacturing operation was built in Côte-aux-Fées in 1945, which still continues to manufacture the ultra-thin ‘movements’ that are such a celebrated part of any Piaget watch. Launching the Piaget Polo Watch designed by Yves G. Piaget in 1979 to meet demands of the time for a luxury sports watch, the watch became an icon which was later remodelled in 2001.  To this day the company continues to live up to the belief of its founder (as he sought the perfection of movement and the ultimate thinness in his watches) that one should ‘Always do better than necessary.’ 

Perhaps that is why the game of polo fits so perfectly alongside the Piaget brand, as Facundo Pieres explains, ‘The most important value that I share with the brand as an official ambassador is the perfection we are both seeking, it takes time, but with hard work and effort, perfection is achieved.  Personally perfection in life for me means to form a family, and professionally it means to achieve the greatest number of tournaments together with my brothers’.  Something which he has all the foundations to achieve in this English high goal season playing alongside his older brother Gonzalito as part of King Power Foxes, whilst cousin Polito joins team Talandracas and Nicolas plays in RH Polo.  It is also the Ellerstina Piaget polo team shirts, worn by the four brand ambassadors, which in recent years always seem to feature so prominently in the Finals of the ultimate of polo tournaments – the Argentine Open Championships at Palermo.

Piaget’s connection to polo does not however end with the naming of a watch and brand ambassadors, as major sponsors around the world the Piaget name is linked to many charity matches and top polo tournaments.  From the USPA Piaget Gold Cup held at The International Polo Club Palm Beach (which in 2015 featured three of the brand ambassadors in the finals), to the Piaget World Snow Polo Championship in Aspen and the Piaget Hamptons Cup in New York, the brand also act as official timekeepers to the Coronation Cup at Guards Polo Club, the Goldin Group Charity Polo at Beaufort Polo Club, Polo Zurich Park, Switzerland and Sao Paulo do Brazil.

Ultimately it is movement, precision, excellence in the field, results and timing that are so crucial both to top polo players on the pitch, and the watchmakers whose masterpieces are such perfect timekeepers on the wrists of many a discerning spectator.