After its Paris showcase, Piaget has brought its 150th Anniversary Celebration exhibition to Shanghai.
Located on the ground floor of Fosun Foundation, a contemporary art center with a kinetic golden facade, the architectural marvel is equally bold and extravagant, which plays to the same tune as Piaget’s anniversary celebration theme of “Essence of Extraleganza.”
The exhibition brings together 200 high jewelry pieces and watches, including around 40 from its latest milestone collection.
Divided into four sections, the showcase celebrates this year’s theme of “where past and present collide into flamboyance.”
The four-day exhibition, which ends on Sept. 23, is open to the public by appointment only.
After Shanghai, the exhibition will head to Abu Dhabi and Seoul.
For Benjamin Comar, Piaget’s chief executive officer, the itinerant exhibition aims to bring an element of storytelling to market and “create a dialogue between new pieces and historical ones.”
“I’m very interested in how the past and the future communicate with each other, and I think China is familiar with this tradition,” he said.
Sharing his thoughts on China’s increasingly cautious consumption climate, Comar said that Piaget’s clientele has grown even more selective. “They are educated, they know the DNA of the brand, so a mixing of experience, product quality, and know-how is what Chinese customers are looking for now.”
“High jewelry and watches is a big investment both financially and emotionally, so I think you have to show a good experience to create that sense of meaning,” he added.
Comar also shared that Piaget is experiencing a boom in the Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia markets. In these nascent markets, staying consistent with the quality of the retail experience is key. Instead of delving more into regional details, Comar believes there’s a universal theme of increased interest in craftsmanship in a world flooded with information driven by technological innovations.
“People are looking for reassurance within themselves, they are looking for a balance between this world, which is super tech, and this other world of tradition and craft, and that is how I see the luxury market expanding. It’s artisanal intelligence that we think will last,” said Comar.
