SUNLIGHT JOURNEY KNOW-HOW TEXT

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1 SUNLIGHT JOURNEY KNOW-HOW TEXT Detailed account of a sun-kissed work of art Exceptional gems, finely crafted precious metals, surprising materials, rediscovered Art and Excellence Metiers d Art: Sunlight Journey is a voyage to the very heart of the expertise cultivated by the Maison Piaget, and to forms of craftsmanship exercised with both talent and passion. Singularity and rarity rub shoulders with the sublime, giving rise to brilliantly complex watch and jewellery creations radiating charisma through the materials and gems that they transform and assemble in keeping with the traditions of a sunlit art. Exceptional gemstones as the source of the creative process Creative work always begins with an emotional reaction, and that stirred by gemstones plays an undeniable role in the inspiration that gives rise to successive models. The Sunlight Journey collection is also an odyssey into the land of rare gems, that involved scouring the world for blue sapphires of exceptional carat weight or a pear-shaped yellow diamond such as the one enthroned on this white gold and diamond necklace (G37N5000). This approximately carat stone involved more than eight months of research. Its shape, the rarest of them all, along with its magnificently saturated colour and its sheer size, make this gem a true treasure within the Sunlight Journey collection.

2 Feather marquetry takes precious flight There is a touch of transcendence about the work of feather artist Nelly Saunier, in all its peerless delicacy and harmony. This talent made her a natural choice to cooperate in crafting jewellery works capable of outshining the bluest Mediterranean skies. To create a series composed of 10 exceptional creations in the form of secret rings, earrings and necklaces, Piaget therefore once again turned to this Maître d Art, winner of the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l Intelligence de la Main. This skilled artisan who assembles feathers with such precision, selecting them like precious stones for their shapes and shades, infuses Piaget creations with an incredibly dainty and graceful elegance. Even the sapphires reveal a special glow in contact with this fine feathery array. Rings and sautoir necklaces display exceptional panache in revealing their sunny motifs enhanced by feather marquetry (G37N2000, G34HR700 & G34HR400). After several inspirational collaborative endeavours, Piaget has given Nelly Saunier a fresh opportunity to share the most elevated expression yet of her heavenly art.

3 Eggshell and gold leaf, the birth of light Beauty often stems from the art of contrasts. Combining the most fragile and natural of materials eggshell with the most precious of all metals is a true art: that of eggshell mosaic work on gold leaf, perfectly mastered by the Maître d Art Isabelle Emmerique. Piaget called upon this technique and this talent in creating the decor of a watch depicting foaming waves viewed from the sky as they billow across a sun-dappled sea (G0A42199). This work calls for extreme patience and meticulous care. The dial motif is first highlighted by lacquer using the traditional European technique. This process, which at the time made it possible to gain emancipation from the Chinese and Japanese artisans who were the guardians of this expertise, is an established Maison Piaget favourite for its creations. Two weeks were required for the lacquer to dry perfectly before being coated with gold leaf. The foam motif is crafted by means of a mosaic pattern featuring hundreds of eggshell fragments. These are skilfully cut in a remarkable miniaturisation effort so as to represent the movements of the water. This particular work involves a specific challenge in that the fragments are not encrusted, but instead delicately applied onto the gold leaf using a gilding technique that creates an interesting volume effect.

4 Grand Feu enamel in the midday sun For a collection born beneath the incandescent sun of Southern lands, the use of enamelling expertise and more specifically that of Grand Feu enamelling was an obvious choice. This ancestral technique, that at one stage appeared doomed to extinction, has regained its original splendour in the world of Fine Watchmaking. This is largely due to the talent of the Swiss enamel artist, Anita Porchet, who was awarded the 2015 Prix Gaïa for Artisanal Creation. Grand Feu enamel and more specifically the cloisonné technique has been used to adorn three one-of-a-kind timepieces (G0A42183/184/185) in the Sunlight Journey collection. Scenery composed of rocks and vegetation, hovering between sky and sea, are enhanced by the colour variations created by the sun s ever-changing trajectory, and enlivened by countless precious details. The cloisonné enamel technique consists in forming small cells and creating motifs using gold wire. These partitions outline recesses designed to receive various colours that artistically accentuate the landscape. The enamel crushed to a powder and carefully washed is carefully placed in these hollows. It is then fired several times at a temperature of 800 to 900 C, so as to progressively reveal the motif and the various colours. After the last firing, the resulting work is delicately lapped and glazed. This process serving to create inalterable decors featuring striking relief effects is also one of the trickiest to perform, notably due to the uncertainty of the result due to the numerous firing operations involved. Gold craftsmanship reflecting a time of searing heat Sun-drenched variations on the most precious metal: the Sunlight Journey collection offers Piaget a fresh opportunity to demonstrate the versatility of its expertise in the art of adorning gold. The latter may be finely engraved to create the sand-textured brilliance surrounding a sea inlet, as on this white gold and lapis lazuli cuff-watch (G0A42223). This Palace Decor that is a Piaget signature involves manually engraving the precious metal so as to create irregular striations creating a raw silk-type effect. This technique, used in combination with gold polishing and diamond setting, serves to create splendid cuff-watches pushing the limits of expertise and creativity in order to provide the most realistic possible depiction of sunlight shimmering on the sea in the first light of dawn (G0A42219). Gold is more radiant than ever within this aesthetic context.

5 Precious afternoon embroideries The most dazzling beauty sometimes hangs by a single thread. When the latter is used to embellish the dial of a timepiece, it is woven in gold to imitate the beams of the sun (G0A42191), radiating with the exquisite delicacy one would expect from this embroidery technique. The motif is embroidered onto white silk with pink gold laminette couching thread whose silk core is wrapped in a woven pink gold thread. This technique tests the patience of the Maître d Art, Sylvie Deschamps, as the hours thread their way serenely through time. Each operation becomes even more accurate and demanding when it comes to reproducing the pictorial pointillist effects of the Neo-Impressionists. In order to give this watch (G0A42192) an incandescent crackling effect, the master artisan has used one of the most complicated embroidery techniques of all, micro-pointillism. By embroidering the thread in such a way as to form tiny knots or bows, the colour becomes even more intensely powerful through a distinctive relief effect. A chromatic explosion staging a joyful firework display.

6 Micro-mosaic in the shade of a flower garden The branches of the bougainvilleas adorning the dial of this Altiplano Haute Joaillerie (G0A42194) watch, set with baguette-cut diamonds, suggest coolness and shade, sheltered from the scorching sun. This is the first Piaget creation to use the gold micro-mosaic technique for the branch motif, combined with traditional glass micro-mosaic for the flowers. In collaboration with the artisan Cesare Bella, Piaget achieves a feat of miniaturisation that infuses the motifs with uniquely vibrant colours and visual depth. The flowers and leaves are made from tesserae comprising various shades that must first be drawn out before meticulous cutting. Each fragment thus obtained will thus preserve this wealth of colours to achieve an inimitably subtle effect. Another major challenge lies in assembling and arranging the tesserae on the dial in such a way as to comply with the stringent tolerances imposed by ultra-thin watches. Micro-mosaic is an unequivocally demanding art.

7 Beautiful shores and wood, mother-of-pearl and parchment marquetry Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to provide an exact rendering of the colour, the light and the motion of an undulating sea. Rising to the challenge, Piaget has chosen to highlight a wood marquetry motif, enriched with unexpected materials, created with the help of the artisan Rose Saneuil. For this timepiece graced with a dancing sea (G0A42200), 224 extremely miniaturised parts were required to compose the motif. And in order to express the wealth of details involved in this creation, issued in an eight-piece limited edition, it features an impressive array of materials ranging from white mother-of-pearl to Tahitian mother-of-pearl, sycamore, parchment, speckled maple, hornbeam, beech and tulip wood. The use of parchment, which is very delicate to work with when it comes to tiny fragments, called for the development of a distinctive technique. Art and matter, in all their magnificent diversity. Sunlight Journey thereby turns the spotlight on a whole collection of talents and skills capable of magnifying the works of nature, to which the Maison Piaget has devoted its full attention with a luminous and inspired vision.

8 About Piaget The unique allure of Piaget lies in the audacity of its style. Charismatic and flamboyant, dazzling watch and jewelry creations embody the radiance that defines the Maison. This passion for daring creativity was born in La Côte-aux- Fées, where Georges-Edouard Piaget set up his first workshop in the family farmhouse and devoted himself to producing high-precision movements. This was back in 1874 and marked the start of an ever-growing reputation. In 1943, the company took a decision that would prove crucial to its future by registering its brand name. Faithful to its pioneering spirit, in the late 1950s Piaget set about designing and manufacturing the ultra-thin movements that would become one of the Maison s signatures and leave a lasting imprint on the art of watchmaking. But Piaget has also always represented a style: a marriage of gold and an explosion of color, new shapes, precious gems, and dials made of hard stones. Swept to new heights of creativity driven by Yves G. Piaget, the Maison s jewelry collection grew in an original direction with a resolute emphasis on color, giving birth to the iconic Piaget look. Building on over 140 years of history, the ever-bold Maison continues to innovate by offering jewels in motion, elegant and extravagant High Jewelry collections, as well as remarkable watches. In a world unconstrained by boundaries, Piaget the watchmaker-jeweler continues to explore unexpected creative possibilities, turning gold, stones and gems into brilliant works of art. For additional information, please contact François Ortarix (François.ortarix@piaget.com) or Penelope Guedj (penelope.guedj@piaget.com) High-resolution images available at pressnews.piaget.com Piaget All rights reserved. piaget.com facebook.com/piaget twitter.com/piaget instagram.com/piaget pinterest.com/piagetbrand youtube.com/piaget #SunlightJourney #PiagetHighJewellery