Fashion

Piaget’s ‘Shapes of Extraleganza’ Feels Right at Home in Abu Dhabi

BYMille Team

October 30, 2025

Before Abu Dhabi was a city of skyscrapers and supercars, it was a city of the sea. So when Piaget chose the capital for its Shapes of Extraleganza showcase— a high jewelry exhibition in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) inspired by light, form, and movement— it felt like a meeting of two worlds that, in their own ways, have always been about craft, endurance, and beauty pulled from the depths.

Presented at Erth— a landmark whose name literally means “legacy”— the collection sat within walls designed by French architect Roger Taillibert to resemble a falcon in flight. Inside, the space unfolds like an art installation rather than a showroom. Sculptural blue backdrops curve and twist like waves frozen mid-motion, while gold and ivory pedestals rise like dunes, balancing delicate displays of necklaces, rings, and sautoirs.

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It’s a fitting setting for a brand that has always celebrated motion and form. Founded in 1874 in a small Swiss village, Piaget built its reputation not just on precision, but on imagination, turning watchmaking into art and giving rise to the playful, shape-shifting jewelry of the 1960s and ’70s.

That same spirit carries through Shapes of Extraleganza. The standout piece, a swinging sautoir named Shimmering Lights, nods to both Piaget’s archives and Abu Dhabi’s maritime past. Its iridescent mother-of-pearl face recalls the glow of the sea at dawn, while its swinging movement channels the freedom of the divers who once searched for pearls by hand.

To celebrate the unveiling, Piaget invited a mix of celebrities, friends of the brand, press, and regional influencers for a cocktail evening on October 29. Among the guests were Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak, Syrian Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini, actor Ed Westwick, and Lebanese-Australian actress Danielle Rahme. The night also featured a live fashion show, where models showcased the new collection alongside gowns from Elie Saab, creating a seamless dialogue between haute joaillerie and couture.

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What’s compelling here is not the surface luxury (though Piaget’s mastery of gold and gem leaves little to critique) but the undercurrent of exchange. The Maison’s storied collaborations with artists like Salvador Dalí and Arman in the 20th century feel newly relevant in this Gulf context, where art, design, and cultural storytelling are at the forefront of the region’s identity shift. With ADIO and Piaget, the focus moves away from the idea of global luxury entering the region and toward a genuine dialogue between traditions. In other words, legacy meeting legacy.

Because Abu Dhabi today isn’t the quiet trading post it once was; it’s a global node of culture, home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, and now, a stage where European savoir-faire can reflect back the light of Gulf history. In that sense, Shapes of Extraleganza is aptly named. And in a region that has long been defined by its relationship to light and water, Piaget’s latest collection feels right at home.

Piaget’s ‘Shapes of Extraleganza’ Feels Right at Home in Abu Dhabi

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Piaget’s ‘Shapes of Extraleganza’ Feels Right at Home in Abu Dhabi

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