Skip the Gold Bars and Buy This New Piaget Instead

In 2024, Piaget marked 45 years since the debut of its beloved Polo watch by releasing an updated yellow-gold version dubbed the Polo 79. Upsized from 34mm to 38mm and equipped with a thin automatic movement to replace the original quartz, the solid gold timepiece was a smash, despite its $73,000 price tag. When 2025 saw the introduction of an equally popular white-gold version, it finally seemed as though the pendulum had swung firmly away from the chunky steel sports watches that have dominated our feeds in favor of heavier, dressier, shinier ones.

Now, Piaget is combining the unabashed extravagance of the yellow gold Polo 79 with the more subtle look of the white-gold execution in a fresh two-tone version. Measuring 38mm like its cousins and featuring no less than 200g of precious metals, it boasts striking looks achieved via white gold construction with yellow-gold “gadroons” cutting across the bracelet, case, and dial. A mix of brushed and polished surfaces in white and yellow gold, respectively, gives it plenty of shimmer, while an integrated bracelet serves up enough Genta-esque ‘70s feeling to keep the luxury sports watch crowd happy.

Courtesy of Piaget

With a clean dial bearing only the funky Piaget wordmark and a set of yellow gold dauphine hands, the watch exists at the intersection of minimalism, brutalism, and pop art. It looks, in short, like something a wealthy European socialite or a hairy-chested leading man would wear in St. Moritz at the tail end of the Carter administration. Which is exactly what its forebear was when it was launched in 1979. While the original Polo was powered by a then state-of-the-art quartz movement, the modern versions feature Piaget’s in-house, ultra-thin cal. 1200P1, an automatic movement with a micro-rotor, 180 components, a 44-hour power reserve, and plenty of engraved finishing.

Limited in production like its predecessors, the new Polo 79 is for a specific type of dedicated collector: At $91K, it exists within the bracket of pieces such as the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in steel ($86,800) and the Bulgari Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar ($89,000). These are very different watches, but the two-tone Polo 79 is every bit deserving of a place among such distinguished company. With a luxurious pedigree from the height of the Studio 54 era, and the high level of mechanical finesse for which Piaget is known, what’s not to like? Especially if the price of gold keeps going up.