Last April the charismatic Chabi Nouri, aged 43, joined the sparse ranks of female CEOs of big watchmakers, helming the illustrious Swiss house of Piaget. COTE interviewed her.
COTE: Piaget is grounded in over 140 years of expertise; how do you take it forward to chime with today's world?
Chabi Nouri: Our house knowhow never dates. Piaget draws on its heritage and values, its historic style signatures and its unique skills to embrace the future and invent timeless creations.
How does e-commerce, in which you've taken an interest since you arrived, work for luxury products?
The modern world is evolving, with customers increasingly engaged and informed. We have to give them what they expect in terms of how we communicate with and solicit them. It's important to have a global attitude and express it through all channels of communication, that's the fundamental approach we've adopted in order to offer a unique, bespoke experience. It allows customers to discover our products in a practical, didactic way before buying.
Doesn't being both a major watch brand and a fine and high jeweller risk one or other sector losing out?
On the contrary, I sincerely believe it's hugely beneficial to have such expertise in both watchmaking and jewellery. Piaget is one of the few houses able to cater to men and women and to create exclusive pieces alongside ones
for everyday wear. Actually it's thanks to our expertise in ultra-thin movements that we've developed our creativity in dials, working with top-rank artisan artists such as Nelly Saunier, our feather artist, and Isabelle Emmerique, our lacquerer.
This summer you presented the new collection of high jewellery in Monaco(1). Why there?
We reserved the world preview of our new Sunlight Journey high-jewellery collection for Monaco for a number of reasons. This collection of 90 exceptional jewels and gemstones is an ode to the Piaget Society, set up at Monsieur Piaget's instigation, and more generally to the French Riviera. It pays homage to that light-bathed Mediterranean coast where nature's elements confront each other with force and passion, that land of culture, exchange and sharing where life is considered as an intense, refined work of art. And then the connection between Piaget and Monaco is a long-standing one. Three years ago we participated in the redesign of the Princess Grace rose garden(2), which Monsieur Piaget helped create in 1984.
How would you define the Piaget style?
Piaget's unique allure derives from the audacity of its styling, legendary and immediately identifiable: gold associated with an explosion of colours, new shapes, precious stones, semi-precious dials, etc. There's a real fusion between the watchmaking and jewellery too. Innovation is another of our fundamental values. We're constantly striving to renew ourselves but without ever forgetting our company's strengths: our wristwatch expertise, sculpting and engraving gold, outstanding stones and gems, marquise-cut diamonds, and the unbridled creativity of our dials.
How would you describe Piaget Society today?
As in the past, Piaget Society is a family of world celebrities who identify with the brand's values, i.e. positive energy, shared joy, audacity, elegance and surpassing oneself. Values we have transposed into the Sunny Side of Life collection, our "new territory".
What's next on your agenda?
Continuing to develop one or two high-jewellery collections a year, this year exhibited during Paris Fashion Week in July and at Art Dubai in March 2018. At Geneva's next SIHH we'll be unveiling our latest timewear creations, as every year. And Piaget is a premier sponsor of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and of the Film Independent Spirit Awards in the USA.
Propos recueillis par Mireille Sartore
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