Piaget Rectangular Yellow Gold Clous de Paris Ref. 931 C4, 1970s

Price upon request

Identity

Piaget rectangular ultra-thin, 18-carat yellow gold, Ref. 931 C4, 1970s. Manual-winding mechanical movement, 9P calibre. 18-carat yellow gold case, rectangular, bezel with clous de Paris guilloché, reference engraved on the back, gold crown. Champagne gold dial, applied gold indexes at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock and painted black indexes at the other hours, sword hands. Mineral crystal. Integrated yellow gold bracelet, clasp.

Horological context

Founded in 1874 in La Côte-aux-Fées, in the Neuchâtel Jura, by Georges Piaget, the maison first supplied movements before signing its own watches under its name in the mid-twentieth century. Piaget made itself the specialist of the ultra-thin: 1957 brought the manual-winding 9P calibre, two millimetres thick; 1960 the automatic micro-rotor 12P, then the thinnest in the world at 2.3 mm. This mastery freed the designers, who multiplied dress and jewellery watches in precious metals — hardstone dials, clous de Paris bezels, extremely slim cases. The clous de Paris guilloché, a field of hollow-cut pyramids, is one of those registers: it makes gold its own ornament, without stone or setting.

Character

The reference's C4 suffix marks this piece definitively. The clous de Paris pattern runs from the dial to the bezel and on to the edge of the case band, while the lugs and the outermost border of the face are left plain to bring out the relief. The bracelet takes up the theme in an articulated version and ends in a clasp likewise worked in clous de Paris. A reference that has appeared in several auction catalogues.

Serviced. Very good condition. Delivered with the Contre-Temps box and the Contre-Temps 24-month warranty certificate.