After 136 years Piaget has finally reached the point where it will have made 1,000,000 watches. That is really a lot of watches, which averages to about 7,353 watches per year. Though clearly they haven’t been consistently making that many from the beginning. Piaget  is on a modern mission to reassert itself as fine watch maker as opposed to just a luxury jewelry and timepiece maker. When people think of Patek Philippe  for example, they think of “in-house made movements.” This association is not always made with Piaget and in-house made movements, though the brand is of the several highly prestigious brands that do make their own movements.

The one millionth watch produced by Piaget is this special Emperador Full-Set Coussin Perpetual Calendar watch. The timepiece will represent watch number 1,000,000 for the brand, as well as 19 other pieces for a total of 20 pieces in this limited edition. The watch case is Piaget’s standard Emperador Coussin (cushion) – which is probably the most interesting cushion case out there – probably because it is not a true cushion case. The dial is cushion shaped, but the case itself is actually round. That combined with the design of the lugs make for an interesting optical illusion. This version of the Emperador Coussin is “Full-Set” with diamonds. The case is in 18k gold with 374 diamonds on it (7.5 carats), 12 more diamonds are on the crown, 25 diamonds are placed on the oscillating automatic rotor, and another 263 diamonds (1.2 carats) are placed on the watch dial – while the hands and hour markers are in 18k white gold. Total of 9.9 carats of diamonds on the watch.

Piaget’s history is as much jewelry as it is horology. The brand wanted to promote both of these core competencies in this celebratory watch As such, the Piaget Emperador Full-Set Coussin Perpetual Calendar focuses equally on gears and gems. Inside the watch is a complex perpetual calendar in-house made movement. It is the Piaget Caliber 856P automatic movement made and decorated entirely in Switzerland. Functions include the time, date, month, day of the week, leap year, and also a second time zone (with a mini watch dial), and a day/night indicator.

If you want one of these watches and are willing to bear the expense, you can’t just go into a Piaget boutique and pick one up. This is one of Piaget’s “secret” models. Meaning that you need to specially order one from the factory. Or you can just walk into their manufacture waving around your diamond studded check book and I am sure their staff will recommend the piece to you.