Piaget Polo 79 Sodalite (Ref. G0A51151): Royal-Blue Stone Meets White Gold Gadroons — W&W 2026

Description

Piaget arrives at Watches & Wonders 2026 and does two very Piaget things at once: it revives the integrated-bracelet sports watch it invented in 1979, and it drops an ornamental stone dial into it. The new Polo 79 Sodalite (Ref. G0A51151) pairs an 18k white gold, 38mm × 7.45mm case with a natural sodalite stone dial — a deep, royal-blue mineral crossed by white calcite veins that make every single example unique.

This is the first time the modern, 2024-reintroduced Polo 79 has been given a stone dial, and it is therefore one of the clearest signals Piaget has sent about where it wants the line to live: somewhere between the brand's ultra-thin gold bracelet heritage and its 1960s hard-stone dial legacy. A niche, but an unmistakably Piaget niche.

Design

The case is brushed 18k white gold, with polished bevels cutting into the top of every gadroon — the rounded, parallel striations that have been the visual signature of the Polo 79 since its original launch. These gadroons carry onto the dial, where Piaget has respected the architecture: the sodalite is inserted between the four polished white gold bars that traverse the dial, not replacing the gadroon pattern but sitting within it. Dauphine-style white gold hands track applied bâton indices. The integrated bracelet is white gold with matching gadroon striations — the same aesthetic unity as the original Polo, executed with sharper finishing than any version of the 79 since the 1980s.

Specifications

Reference: G0A51151
Case: 38mm × 7.45mm
Material: 18k white gold, brushed with polished gadroon bevels
Crystal: Sapphire, both front and caseback, AR-coated
Dial: Natural sodalite stone (royal-blue with white calcite veins — each piece unique)
Indices: Applied white gold bâton
Hands: Dauphine-style white gold
Water resistance: 50m
Bracelet: Integrated 18k white gold gadroon bracelet
Movement: Piaget Calibre 1200P1, in-house, ultra-thin automatic
Winding system: Micro-rotor
Movement dimensions: 29.9mm × 2.35mm
Jewels: 25
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 44 hours
Finishing: Circular-grained main plate, Côtes de Genève
Price: CHF 84,500 / EUR 102,000 (Germany)

What's Exciting

Sodalite is an unusually characterful stone — deeper and more variegated than lapis, darker than turquoise, harder than onyx is to work. Using it on a Polo 79 is a move that rewards close inspection: from across a room the dial reads simply as "blue," but at wrist distance the calcite veins and the depth of the stone take over. The Calibre 1200P1 beneath is the direct heir to the 1957 Calibre 12P — the movement that founded Piaget's ultra-thin reputation. At 2.35mm, it is still one of the thinnest in-house automatic calibres in current production.

This is not a value-for-money watch. It is, however, a reminder that Piaget still does integrated-bracelet gold sports watches with a depth of historical craft that few competitors can match — and at CHF 84,500 you are getting an ornamental-stone hand-made white-gold Polo with an in-house ultra-thin movement. For what that is, the price is defensible.

History

The original Piaget Polo of 1979 was a statement — an integrated-bracelet gold sports watch designed by Yves G. Piaget at a time when gold dress watches still dominated the luxury category. Its identifying gadroons, along with the absence of visible lugs and the carry of case-pattern onto dial and bracelet, defined the Polo's look for decades. In 2024 Piaget re-launched the Polo 79 faithfully, preserving the 38mm proportions and the calibre 1200P1. The W&W 2026 sodalite version is the first to add a stone dial — pulling in the second great Piaget tradition, the 1963 decision to dress dials in vibrant ornamental stones, from lapis and tiger's eye to malachite and opal.