Piaget CEO Philippe Léopold-Metzger shares his aspirations for the 141-year old watch brand and talks future, challenges and the critical importance of fostering skills for the next generation.

As a company founded in the manufacturing of watch movements, it’s no surprise that for Piaget – and the man at its helm – the devil is in the details.

Léopold-Metzger speaks with a great affinity for the brand and the quality of the products Piaget produces, and he is fiercely proud of its heritage and dedication to the craft of watch movements, timepieces and, most recently, high jewellery.

“You have a lot of different entrants which have no legitimacy whatsoever. They have money, so that they can to some extent buy awareness and hence in the minds of people, maybe ‘legitimacy’, but historically, it is older brands like Piaget which have been in business for more than 140 years and which really have the heritage behind them,” he says.

Piaget’s latest high jewellery collection, ‘Secrets & Lights’, was revealed just weeks ago during the haute couture shows in Paris and throughout the thread of this exclusive interview, it becomes clear that this growing sector of the business is to be a beacon for expansion in the future.

“High jewellery, in particular, today is on fire, because for people high jewellery has become an investment,” he says.

More so when pieces, such as Piaget’s, are crafted to perfection by skilled craftsmen around the world and laden with cushion-cut emeralds, marquise-cut blue, brilliant-cut diamonds, feathers and rubies.

But again, it’s not the quantity which draws Léopold-Metzger’s attestation, but the quality and craftsmanship behind each creation, which is an essential pillar of the Piaget brand and a high priority where he is concerned.

“Here at Piaget, we are very active in fostering these skills. We are probably one of the most involved companies in sponsoring talent. Now, everyone has joined and all the brands under Richemont sponsor. But we were the first,” he explains.

“We also have a lot of apprentices, so we are actively working to make sure that these skills can be passed from one generation to the other.”

This sense of continuity is also something which is mirrored in Léopold-Metzger’s professional career and, likely, part of what makes him such a fortuitous fit for a brand steeped in 141 years of rich history – indeed, since his entry into the luxury jewellery sphere via the Cartier brand in Paris in 1981, through to his move to Piaget in 1992 and his appointment as the head of the brand in 1996 – he’s never once left the inner circle of the extended family that is Cartier-Vendome-Richemont.