Jewelry And Watches Are The Art Of Time | Exclusive Interview With Piaget China Managing Director

June 15,2021

On June 11, the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) officially opened. As the official partner and designated jewelry brand, Swiss luxury brand Piaget and SIFF jointly launched the "Young Filmmaker Education Support Program".

Through the establishment of "Extraordinary Master Classes" and the awarding of scholarships and other initiatives to pay tribute to the outstanding achievements of film behind the scenes, this program encourages young filmmakers to inherit and carry forward the spirit of creativity, and continue to contribute to the vigorous development of film-making as an art form.

On the eve of the opening of SIFF, Mathieu Delmas, Piaget China Managing Director, discussed the connection between jewelry, watch craft and the art of film in an interview with Luxe.CO, which provides an example of how luxury brands can participate in and support the arts.

Luxe.CO: Where is PIAGET’s starting point with film? How is PIAGET associated with film?

Mathieu Delmas (MD): Since the 1960s, Piaget has accompanied Elizabeth Taylor, Alain Delon, Gary Grant and many other movie stars on the red carpet. In addition to red carpet occasions, Piaget's necklaces, bracelets, watches and other products have also continued to appear in film works. For example, in 1974’s "The Man with the Golden Gun", Christopher Lee, who played the villain, wore a Piaget watch.

Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy Wears Piaget Jade

Then there’s Ann Hui’s Love After Love where you will find shining PIAGET necklaces worn by famous actresses. We have had a long partnership with Hu Ge, who is not just the China ambassador, but has also been an international ambassador for more than five years.

Luxe.CO: So in your opinion, what is the commonality and the inner connection between jewelry and watch craft and film?

MD: In terms of commonality and inner connection, I would say the passion we have for craftsmanship, because PIAGET is about gold, PIAGET is about diamonds. PIAGET is very high end, but at the end of the day, our whole story is about craftsmanship, it’s about creation of the extraordinary.

This is what PIAGET is, this is the foundation of the character. And this is not very far from film. The filmmakers and actresses make us dream. The point of reconciliation is the territory of making the extraordinary through a unique partnership and expertise.

Luxe.CO: We can trace back to 2008 PIAGET’s support for the Independent Film Festival and other different film events, like the Golden Horse & Hong Kong Film Awards. What was the trigger for PIAGET to decide to cooperate with SIFF? And what is your Chinese market strategy behind this sponsorship?

MD: It’s very important to pay tribute to the Chinese movie industry and to support Chinese filmmakers and Chinese actors. We really wanted to do something here in mainland China for the Chinese.

So for us, it's a great opportunity along with SIFF to position the brand as one of excellence and one always willing to push the boundaries in all fields. We are going to leverage the Shanghai International Film Festival; it is an opportunity as well to showcase our brand attributes in China.

Luxe.CO: As we said at the beginning, there are many young people, young film buffs participating in SIFF. Would you please share with us Chinese consumers’ portrait of PIAGET?

MD: In China, we have the chance basically to cater to not only one type of client profile.We see that our clients are pretty young, in fact female consumers are our main force, and the number of male consumers is also slowly increasing.

And our clients don’t just buy jewelry, but also want to know the story behind the design, how we took a raw stone and made it into such a piece of jewelry. As I have said, customers buy PIAGET Jewelry not because they are beautiful stones, but because of the unique craftsmanship behind them.

Luxe.CO: I think that will be a great story you can tell through the film festival to your clients. What kind of brand influence does PIAGET hope to build this time?

MD: It's again an opportunity not just to spark or to shine during the festival. That is attributed to the Chinese film industry, which we want to support not only one time or not only during the festival, but over the next few years. That's why we are very proud to launch the "Young Filmmaker Education Support Program". We're not just rewarding excellent filmmakers; at the same time, we're going to finance a scholarship to support the young talents from the film industry in China.

Luxe.CO: What are Piaget's considerations when it comes to selecting Chinese spokespersons?

MD: We look for people who are popular, but I think what is even more important is to share the same values. This is super important because we need to ensure that we deliver to our clients, to our fans, a true and genuine image. And we do not take craftsmanship as fake and there is a lot of depth to what we do in our partnerships with celebrities in China. Hu Ge is the perfect example because he went through tough times in his life as well. He managed to overcome these difficulties and was willing to push boundaries, transcend himself, and constantly take on new roles and challenges. This is the spirit that PIAGET and the Western film industry should learn from Hu Ge and the Chinese film industry.