Tribune des Arts - n°311 - May 2003G.T.
We have therefore embarked on a series of articles to gain an insight into these manufactories where the notion of cooperation, brotherliness, mutual respect but also modesty give rise to these extraordinary watch movements, behind which human geniuses of invention and construction lie forgotten.
Today the name Piaget immediately calls to mind the superb and ultramodern factory built by the company at Plan-les-Ouates, on the outskirts of Geneva. So much so that we almost forget that the birthplace of the brand is La Côte-aux-Fées, a small village nestled on the edge of the Jura forests, and that the extraordinary movements of Piaget watches are still developed and constructed here.
A haven of brotherly spirit
At La Côte-aux-Fées, it seems that time stopped long ago even though, in the recesses of the Piaget family home, state-of-the-art electronics have made an appearance to assist the hundred or so watchmakers who work there, bathed in a northern light so reminiscent and characteristic of the Jura mountains.
Conversely, the brotherliness between the men has remained unchanged since the times when, in winter, the Jura used to be cut off from the world by metres of snow and where solidarity was not an empty word. Here we each help one another, everyone participating in the creation of outstanding movements. Everyone from the prestigious “Tourbillons” team to the youngest apprentice is entitled to speak out, and the most experienced readily share their knowledge. A little like the copyist monks in a Benedictine monastery.
Thus Gabriel Piaget and his cousins, Fredy, Pierre-Alain, Jacques-André, Eric, the driver, direct descendants of Piaget's founder, work like everyone else, sharing the same talent and same modesty in undertaking a communal task.
For his part, Philippe Léopold-Metzger, Piaget's CEO who reigns masterfully over its marketing, communications and finances, travelling the world all year long, is totally transformed once he steps foot in his manufactory at La Côte-aux-Fées. He, the visionary, the manager, changes suddenly into an old-style, almost paternalistic, boss, humbled by the knowledge of the watchmakers. So much so that he might seemingly have never left the village, that he belongs to everyone's family.
The «Tourbillon» team: MM. Rubrecht, Gabriel Piaget, Ribotel and Buchs. DR
The “Tourbillon” team is set up in the attic, in the foreground Mr Rubrecht. DR
The Piaget workshops at Plan-les-Ouates are as warm and welcoming as they are ultramodern. DR
Two inextricable aspects
There is therefore something special and soothing about the ambience of La Côte aux Fées which makes it conducive to concentrating on the essentials. Which is not to say that they are unaware in the Jura that the factory at Plan-les-Ouates is equally essential. In fact, the heart of a watch has always been manufactured in the mountains while its exterior - the case, gold, enamel, diamonds - was made in Geneva. At the time, admittedly, Jura's watchmakers would deliver their movements, on foot, to the Genevans who would embellish them luxuriously before setting off to sell them across the globe. At Piaget, the tradition has therefore lived on since the cases are made at Plan-les-Ouates and all the casing operations are carried out there. The only difference is that nowadays Jura's watchmakers are no longer sidelined and are instead continually approached for advice.
It is this symbiosis between the conscientious and hard-working Jura and the dazzling and international Geneva which lies behind Piaget's success throughout the world.
