Piaget relaunches their legendary model Polo in gold

Text: Mia Litström

Looking back into the historical archives is almost always a safe bet for the watch companies. Vacheron Constantin did exactly that two years ago by relaunching their historical model 222 in full gold and Piaget has now done the same thing with their model the Polo, entirely in yellow gold. The name for the model is precisely Polo 79 in order to honour the model's 45th anniversary.

The watch model was produced to meet customers' requests for an elegant sports watch that could stand sporty activities such as for example horse polo. And at the time that type of competitions and tournaments was very popular. In addition Piaget sponsored the competition Polo World Cup Palm Beach in 1979, so the name Polo came about quite naturally when they were to choose a name for the watch which moreover became the first watch at Piaget that got a specific model name. The first Polo was launched in two versions, one for him and one for her and during the polo competition the well-known actress Ursula Andress among others wore an example of the new watch. The Polo has also been worn by several other well-known personalities such as Robert DeNiro in the film Casino and also Andy Warhol, Brooks Shields and none other than our Björn Borg also has a keen eye for the model. 

Now we look further at the new Polo 79 that has just been launched. It is entirely in yellow gold, both case and bracelet. Extra decorative is that the bracelet is fully integrated. Very smart and well-made design, there are no joins or anything similar. The whole watch, both bracelet, case and dial have horizontal lines in polished gold, so-called "gadroons" which are a smart combination to the brushed surface. The pattern carries on all the way out onto the case without interruption from the dial. It is precisely that style that makes the watch so beautiful and clean-lined. The dial is moreover completely clean, the only thing written is Piaget at 12 o'clock and just like the original it has hands for hour and minutes in gold but no seconds hand. 

Another positive detail is also that they have chosen to put a mechanical movement in the watch instead of a quartz movement as it was in the original model. And one of the company's areas of expertise is being able to make ultra-thin movements and for this model they have chosen their own automatic movement 1200P1 with a micro-rotor. The movement is only 2.35 mm in thickness and the power reserve is 44 hours and it is water resistant to 50 m which means that it copes with a lighter shower or a shower. 

So the diameter of the watch is 38 mm, the thickness 7.45 mm which means it suits most wrists. The original model was smaller in size (34 mm) but the modern version's larger size still gives it a delightful 70s look. The gold also means that the watch has a solid weight which is 200 g and the back is open where you can see how elegantly the various movement parts are decorated. 

The Piaget Polo 79 has a lovely retro style and with its weight there is a feeling of wearing a solid gold bracelet in a beautiful format where you can moreover see the time from a mechanical movement. I like that Piaget took the decision not to launch it with a quartz movement but that they really bring out their expertise with ultra-thin movements for this model which puts modern life into a long-awaited 70s design. 

The price is of the magnitude of 950 000 kronor. 

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