Editor’s Note
Piaget’s journey under Benjamin Comar marks a return to its core identity, blending masterful goldsmithing with daring design. This article explores how the brand is rebalancing its dual heritage as both jeweler and watchmaker to forge a cohesive and compelling future.
Rediscovering Fundamentals
Piaget is reconnecting with its fundamentals through original goldsmithing techniques, a bold selection of stones, and unique color combinations.
In June 2021, when Benjamin Comar took over the reins of the Piaget house, the brand had not yet found its ideal balance. Being both a jeweler and a watchmaker, it needed to find the royal path to infuse notoriety and commercial success into both its poles, so that the attraction would work. For the past two years, the deep refocusing work on the Piaget identity has been shifting the lines. Piaget jewelry seems to be rediscovering what has always shaped it: the originality of gold work, the daring choice of precious stone sizes, and the novel combination of colors.
The Gemmologist’s Profile
To follow this steep ridge line and unearth, along the way, the priceless nuggets that will make the collections successful, Guillaume Chautru, head of Piaget gemmology since 2016, has the ideal profile. This gemmology expert, a hunter of extraordinary stones, whose career was also shaped at Cartier as a specialist in gem quality certification, is a unique character. His reputation as an adventurer precedes him. A great connoisseur of stones and a reptile breeder, this habitué of exotic and remote lands has shaped his field knowledge like no one else.
Interview at GemGenève
“GemGenève, like the Hong Kong or Tucson (USA) shows, is important. Everyone knows each other, talks, exchanges information about the state of the market, about stones, about prices. Even though each brand is a competitor, we like to meet to discuss our overall visions of the sector, but also, sometimes, to point out bad practices, like withholding goods to artificially drive up prices. We know that the precious stones pre-selected by the suppliers present are of quality. This year, with Stéphanie Sivrière, head of creation, we are choosing those that will make up the 2025-2026 high jewelry collection. I choose the stone for the beauty of its color and its quality, Stéphanie for what it inspires in her. I negotiate the prices and she takes care of the creation. Yesterday, we were able to get our hands on a beautiful set of high-value emeralds.”
“It’s very rare. We practically never buy rough stones. That would require years of work. We must admit that it is primarily a marketing argument. However, whenever I have the opportunity, I do not hesitate to visit one, to stay connected to the market, it’s important. Because today, the sector is experiencing demand growth. More and more new high jewelry brands are appearing, like Fendi or Saint Laurent, which have also launched jewelry collections. This is without counting the very large players in the market. It is not always easy to come after them, the means are disproportionate. So it is our relationships with suppliers that make the difference.”
Piaget’s Competitive Edge
The brand has succeeded in implementing a purchasing process that allows it to quickly acquire gems at the best price.
“The brand being smaller, we cannot commit the house to exorbitant amounts. We therefore had to set up a very particular purchasing process that I will not detail for you. Today, Piaget is capable of buying the fastest at the best price. While some houses have to wait for an internal purchasing protocol that can last months, Piaget can do it on the spot, directly. For this, we organized the upstream flow. Often, merchants prefer to wait for us to come see them, before showing their stones to other brands, because we can buy them immediately, while others can block the goods for several months. This requires from us a constant presence and vigilance on all markets, to ensure we get first pick.”
