In 1966, New York City’s Village Voice newspaper ran a classified ad that read, “I’ll endorse with my name any of the following: clothing, AC-DC, cigarettes, small tapes, sound equipment, ROCK ‘N ROLL RECORDS, anything, film, and film equipment, Food, Helium, Whips, MONEY!! love and kisses ANDY WARHOL.” The ad was as multifaceted as anything Warhol’s infamous Factory produced, equal parts caustic wit, performance art and astute observation about the intersection of creativity and commerce. Decades after his death, the Andy Warhol foundation continues to take the artist at his word, inking posthumous licensing deals with brands ranging from Comme des Garçons and Dom Perignon to Burger King. The new Piaget Andy Warhol “Collage” watch — which features a 45mm yellow gold case and a marquetry collage of yellow Namibian serpentine, pink opal and green chrysoprase — is the latest product to bear Warhol’s name and likeness, and possibly the most covetable.
Among other things, Warhol was a collector (although that may be too polite a term — Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol museum is home to more than 600 “time capsule” cardboard boxes filled with everything from photos to dry cleaning receipts). Among the many things he collected, Warhol is said to have been a compulsive buyer of watches, amassing more than 300 timepieces including seven by Piaget. When Warhol’s watch collection was auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York a year after his death, four of these were purchased by Piaget and returned to its private collection in Switzerland. Among them was a black and gold reference 15102, a 45mm watch designed by Piaget’s creative director Jean-Claude Gueit and produced between 1972 and 1977. That design, later dubbed the Black Tie, was reimagined again last year as the Piaget Andy Warhol when the Swiss Maison and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts entered into an official partnership.
This New Piaget is a Gallery-Worthy Tribute to Andy Warhol
This New Piaget is a Gallery-Worthy Tribute to Andy Warhol
This New Piaget is a Gallery-Worthy Tribute to Andy Warhol
This New Piaget is a Gallery-Worthy Tribute to Andy Warhol
The newest addition to the collection may also be the Warhol-iest, thanks to a dial modelled on a polaroid collage of self-portraits created by the artist in 1986. It’s limited to just 50 pieces, but fortunately for anyone who doesn’t manage to score one of them, it appears to be just a taste of what’s to come. According to Piaget, the first year of the partnership with the Andy Warhol foundation has been focused on colour, a prominent feature of his Warhol’s work, from his iconic soup cans to his silkscreened portraits. Next year? Who knows. Given that the artist is known to have produced some 9,000 paintings and sculptures and nearly 12,000 drawings, there’s no shortage of source material to draw from. Assuming the partnership continues, the Piaget Andy Warhol Collection will certainly have more gallery-worthy creations to come.
Learn more about the Piaget x Andy Warhol collaboration.
