Piaget are bringing back retro styling with a handful of vintage-inspired pieces from the 60s and 70s. One such piece is the Black Tie “vintage inspiration”.

A modern take on a boldly designed watch that was worn and given recognition by none other than Andy Warhol in the 1960s, the Black Tie “vintage inspiration” features a pyramidal fusion case with a steeped bezel and rounded edges, done in superimposed satin-finished and polished white gold.

Piaget have preserved the proportions of the original watch, which is on the  larger side even by today’s standards. Measuring 45 x 40mm, the overall profile has been slimmed down thanks to the use of a mechanical movement.

The dial is even cleaner than the original, done in a highly polished black onyx stone with polished metal baton hands and void of any markers or indexes. Other versions with more colourful stone dials were presented in September during the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris, with dials done in lapis lazuli, jade or hard ruby.

The most significant difference between the Piaget Black Tie “vintage inspiration” and its predecessor is the movement. While the originalBeta 21 quartz movement has been replaced with a Piaget manufactured mechanical cal. 534P, an automatic movement with a power reserve of 42 hours.

Keeping with the original design, the case back is solid and done in vertically satin-brushed white gold with the Piaget coat of arms.

The Piaget Black Tie “vintage inspiration” is a watch that somehow looks better when worn on the wrist than it does in a display case, where its unusual and contemporary form don’t feel dated in the least.

The Piaget Black Tie “vintage inspiration” in white gold with onyx dial will be limited to only 28 pieces at around $40’000 USD, though we’ll have to wait until SIHH 2015 in January for official prices.

More information on www.piaget.com

Special thanks to Henri from www.infashionity.com for being such a great wrist model