‘Icon’ is one of the most overused phrases in watches — yet for all its ubiquity, it’s a decidedly amorphous concept. So, what makes an icon, and what does the successful iteration of an iconic watch look like? Well, it’s a question that Piaget is well-placed to answer.

Piaget Andy Warhol Watch ‘Collage’ Limited Edition

Piaget has never had a problem creating recognisable designs. The watchmaker is one of the most compelling examples of a design-led manufacture out there. With expertise not just in ultra-thin pieces, but also in high jewellery and bold shapes. One such example is a heavily stepped cushion-cased watch known (since 2024) as the Andy Warhol Watch, a name drawn from the fact that the legendary Pop artist owned one back in 1973.

Continuing celebrations of Piaget’s 150th anniversary in 2024, the Black Tie Andy Warhol is cased in rose gold framing a malachite dial

As far as cementing Icon status goes, a partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is a genius move. Not only is Warhol a household name and recognised as one of the greatest artists of the last century, but he’s also emblematic of the 1970s and 80s, an era of opulence and excess perfectly in line with Piaget.

Andy Warhol and Yves Piaget

Not only is reframing this instantly recognisable design as the Andy Warhol Watch a genius move, but it’s one that sets the tone for the future of this Icon. While iconic designs must have their roots in significant historical creations, maintaining and growing the icon is just as important as creating it.

Which is where this capsule watch, the Andy Warhol Collage, really excels. The now familiar stepped, softened square case is, almost literally, a perfect frame for Piaget to express their boundless creativity. And on the Collage, they’ve shown off their confidence and capabilities with a dial that draws heavily from Warhol’s theoretical approach to art — bold colours and clear shapes inspired by the world of advertising , as well as Warhol’s famed collage-style Polaroid self-portraits. Piaget has created an expressive design and rendered it in a medium with which they are intimately familiar. Stone.

An engraving of Warhol’s 1986 Polaroid collage self-portrait, accompanied by Piaget’s logo, the Foundation’s insignia, and Warhol’s own signature

Yellow Namibian serpentine, pink opal and green chrysoprase are carefully cut and assembled, surrounded by a frame of black onyx — an ornamental marquetry that is precise and precious. The resulting dial is striking and immediately conveys Warhol’s style, filtered through Piaget’s expertise in métiers d’art. This dial, wrapped by the yellow gold case, is instantly recognisable, incredibly pleasing and truly iconic. If Piaget keep this up, the Andy Warhol Watch is going to enjoy far more than 15 minutes of fame.

The black onyx base complemented by inlays of Namibian serpentine, pink opal, and green chrysoprase, each stone cut into thin slices and pieced together to form an abstract, layered composition