Yves Piaget Rose: From Luxury Watches to Exquisite Roses to Delicate Rose Petal Jelly

Piaget is a name that connotes luxury, perfection, refinement. Sophisticated jewellery watches, spectacular roses, and an aromatic delicacy are all linked to the name of Piaget, the Swiss watchmaking dynasty.

Yves Georges Piaget was born in 1942 at La Côte-aux-Fées (“Fairy [Fées] Slope” in French, “Sheep [Fayes] Slope” in old Neuchâtel dialect], a municipality in the French-speaking canton of Neuchâtel (French: Canton de Neuchâtel; German: Kanton Neuenburg) in western Switzerland. Within the canton, La Côte-aux-Fées is located in the Val-de-Travers District, which is renowned for its clock industry. Only 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) from the French border, La Côte-aux-Fées nestles on a high plateau at an elevation of 3,412 feet (1,040 meters).

In 1874 at the age of nineteen, Yves' great-grandfather, Georges Édouard Piaget (1855-1931), founded the family business as manufacture d'horlogerie (literally "watchmaking manufacturer"), the “watchmakers’ watchmaker,” with their handmade ébauches (watch movement components). Georges' motto was Faire toujours mieux que nécessaire ("Always do better than necessary"), and so he kept perfecting and inventing thinner components to improve watch movement accuracy.

In 1943 the third of Georges’ seven sons, Timothée (1885-1975), along with his own sons, Gérald (1917 – 1997), Valentin (1922 – ), expanded the family business, beyond crafting highest quality watch movements for watchmakers in Geneva and Paris, to include making and selling their own trademarked jewellery watches. With the exception of the steel Upstream (2001) and titanium Polo FortyFive (2009), Piaget watch cases are constructed only of gold or platinum.

Yves, Gérald’s son, received a degree in watchmaking engineering from the University of Neuchâtel (which is unique in offering this horological [Greek: ὥρα, hōrā, "time, season, year" + -λογία, -logía, "study"] program) and a diploma in gemology and gemstone mineralogy from the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) in Los Angeles.

In 1966, at the age of 25, Yves began working in the family business.

With Gérald’s retirement in 1982, Yves succeeded his father as President of the family business in 1982.

In 1988 Piaget International merged with Swiss luxury brand specialists, Vendôme Luxury Group (now known as Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.). Yves remained for years as President of Piaget International, travelling worldwide as an ambassador for the Piaget brand. In the twenty-first century, now as Chairman of the House of Piaget, this "keeper of the flame," as he refers to himself, conscientiously and energetically continues his extensive ambassadorial peregrinations.

In 1996 Piaget International joined with Brandolin Dottor Group, an architectural enterprise founded in 1836 in Italy's Venetian region and dedicated to the restoration of historically significant buildings and monuments, embarked on a ten-year project, restoration of St. Mark's Clock Tower in Venice, Italy. Piaget International focused on the clock while Brandolin Dottor Group was responsible for the tower.

The Clock Tower in St. Mark’s Square (Torre dell’Orologio di San Marco in Venezia) dates from the close of the fifteenth century. Its geographic coordinates are 45° 26′ 4.96″ North and 12° 20′ 20.08″ East. It is known as the Moors’ Clock Tower because of the pivoting bronze figures, known as Moors for their bronzed darkness, that strike each hour.

Construction of the clock and its tower began in 1496 by well-known municipal clockmaking brothers, Gian Paolo Ranieri and Gian Carlo Ranieri. Inaugurated on February 1, 1497, the clock was maintained by a custodian (temperatore), a position which, until its abolishment in 1998, was funded by the Venetian government. Repairs and restorations have occurred frequently, beginning in 1551.

The unveiling ceremony for the restitution of the clock and its tower took place on May 27, 2006, with over 30,000 attendees. (Please follow the link below for a video of the ceremony provided on Piaget.com.)

The next restoration project for Yves Piaget and Pietro Dottor, Brandolin Dottor Group's president, concerns the ancient Sant'Alipio clock in the northeastern corner of the Torre dell’Orologio in the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale), originally built in the fourteenth-century as the residence for Venice's Chief Magistrate, the Doge (Latin: dux, "military leader"). The restoration commenced on July 14, 2008, with completion projected later this year, 2011.

In 2010 Yves Piaget added author to his resplendent horological resume. In collaboration with French poet-writer Jean Orizet (born March 5, 1937), Yves Piaget released his memoirs, Orfèvre du temps: Dialogues avec Jean Orizet ("Goldsmith of Time: Conversations with Jean Orizet").

In 1985, the Meilland family introduced a hybrid tea rose, cultivar name ‘MEIvildo’, that honored the fourth-generation scion of impeccable luxury watches. 'Yves Piaget'® rose, which is its American Rose Society exhibition name, is also known as Royal Brompton and Queen Adelaid (for Queen Adelaide [August 13, 1792-December 2, 1849], German spouse of English King William IV [August 21, 1765-June 20, 1837]). The parentage of the Yves Piaget rose is (['Pharaon' x 'Mme. A. Meilland'] x ['Chrysler Imperial' x 'Charles Mallerin']) x 'Tamango'.

The American Rose Society (ARS) color classification for the Piaget rose is deep pink. Flowers shade from pale rose pink at the edges to rich pink in the center. Flowering occurs singly or in clusters of two or three.

The flower size is 4.7 inches (12 centimeters).

Irregularly indentations in the edges of the petals crown the rose's outline with distinctive frills that enhance its pastel highlights. According to rosarian Dan Bifano of premier rosebreeders Weeks Roses, headquartered in California, flowers of Piaget roses have around 80 petals. With their voluptuously round, large shape and abundant petals, these flowers are reminiscent of peonies.

Medium-sized leaves are semi-glossy dark green.

This rosebush may reach a height of 2.5 feet (0.7 meters) and has a horizontal spread of about 1.6 feet (0.48 meters).

The Piaget rose's fragrance is intensely sweet.

The Piaget rose is immensely popular and greatly admired, especially for its fragrance, its floriferousness (Latin: florifer, "bearing flowers"), and its demure vibrance. Its success is no surprise, as its parentage includes 'Mme. A. Meilland', a fragrant, yellow perfection (see below) and 'Chrysler Imperial', a sumptuously red, fully shaped, richly fragrant beauty.

Meilland family: Creators of the world's most famous rose

The Meilland family rose business was started by Lyonnaise gardener Philippe Jean-Baptiste François Rambeau (known as Joseph Rambaux)(March 14, 1820-July 30, 1878) around 1850. In 1923 the company, in need of more space, moved to the quiet village of Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) west of Lyons. With the instituting of plant patenting by the United States in 1930, the company wisely expanded their business to the United States in 1932 through a contract establishing as their American agents Conard-Pyle Company’s Star Roses Nursery in West Grove, a town in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania where the historic Red Rose Inn, established in 1740, famously was granted land from the commonwealth’s founder, William Penn (October 14, 1644-July 30, 1718), for the annual rental payment of one red rose.

On January 14, 1939 Joseph Rambaux’s great-great-grandson, Francis Meilland (February 20, 1912-June 15, 1958) married Louisette Paolino (1920-1987), in southeastern France at Cap d’Antibes, where Louisette’s parents, Marie-Elisabeth Greco Paolino and Francesco Giacomo Paolino, had established a successful rose growing business.

In 1948 the Meilland family moved their rosebreeding operations to Cap d’Antibes while retaining half-ownership in the Tassin property (including greenhouses, roses, etc.), which was reformed, exclusively for the production and sale of roses, with Lyonnaise rosarian Francisque Richardier as Roseraies Meilland Richardier. The main rose-breeding station is now located at Le Luc-en-Provence in the southeastern French department of Var. Test sites are maintained in central and southern France, northern Germany, and in West Grove, Pennsylvania and Wasco, California in the United States.

From 1935 to 1939, Francis focused on developing a rose which has become the most famous rose in the world. Introduced in 1945, Francis named the rose ‘Mme. A. Meilland’ to honor his mother, Joséphine Claudine “Claudia” Dubreuil Meilland (November 3, 1887-1932?). This remarkable yellow rose with rainbow edges of crimson, cream, and pink is known in English-speaking countries as ‘Peace’, in Italy as ‘Gioia’ (“Joy”), and in Germany as ‘Gloria Dei’ (“Glory to God”). One of Francis' greatest legacies, the 'Peace' rose has secured a special place for the Meilland family in worldwide rosebreeding as innovative, serious rosarians. 'Peace' serves as a roseate memorial to Francis, who succumbed to stomach cancer at the young age of forty-six, and to his mother, Claudia, whose life also was cut short in her fourth decade by cancer.

The Piaget rose was bred by Francis' widow, Louisette, and introduced two years before her death in 1987. Louisette created the perfect rose to symbolize the beauty, luxury, perfection, and precision that the name of Piaget connotes.

Yves Piaget rose petals are specified because this rose easily maintains the intensity of its fragrance and its delicate coloring beautifies jelly in an appetizing way, so that Yves Piaget Rose Petal Jelly delivers triple sensations of gustatory, olfactory, and visual pleasure. Nevertheless, any variety of rose that is available may be substituted, as all roses, being edible, differ only in coloring, fragrance, and texture.

Roses are best picked at mid-morning to allow any dew to dry and to avoid the effects of the early afternoon sun. Holding onto the tips of the petals, gently pull each rose off its base. Trim the bitter white (or yellowish) sections at the base of each petal with scissors or a sharp knife.

Three (3) roses typically yield one (1) cup of petals.

Check each petal for insects. Deposit petals into a colander and gently rinse in water. Never use any roses that have been sprayed with insecticide.

Rose petal jelly or jam makes a scrumptious topping on bagels, breads (fresh or toasted), crispbreads such as Wasa rye krisp, muffins, teacakes, or waffles. It also serves as a sensational filling in muffins or pound cake. A dollop added to any fruit pie imparts a lovely flavor.

(Links to four recipes for rose petal jelly or jam are provided immediately below.)

Luxury's domain: Piaget watches + Yves Piaget roses + Yves Piaget rose petal jelly

One of the heights of luxurious living is wearing Piaget watches, growing Piaget roses, buying Piaget cut roses, and consuming Yves Piaget rose petal jelly. Any one of these Piaget namesakes instills a priceless sense of perfect beauty.

My special thanks to talented photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet and to culinary afficionados who share their recipes on the internet.

“How to Make Rose Petal Jam.” wikiHow: the how to manual that you can edit. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Rose-Petal-Jam (Last accessed June 12, 2011)

Meilland, Alain, Gilles Lambert, and Louis Clark Keating. La Vie en Roses. Paris: Editions Solar, 1969.

Modern Roses XI: The World Encyclopedia of Roses. San Diego: Academic Press, 2000.

Piaget, Yves G. et Jean Orizet. Orfèvre du temps: Dialogues avec Jean Orizet. Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 2010.

Quest-Ritson, Charles and Brigid. American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses. 1st American Edition. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2003.

“Rose Petal Jelly.” Rose-Works.com http://www.rose-works.com/rose-petal-jelly.html (Last accessed June 12, 2011)

Roses. 1st American Edition. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1996.

Teillol-Foo, Melvyn (Dr.). “Piaget --- A Family History of ‘Luxury and Precision’: 1874-1988.” May 19, 2009. PuristSPro.com Baselworld/SIHH. http://basel.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-881/pi-3160006/ti-521306/s-0/ (Last accessed June 12, 2011)

“Venice: Piazza San Marco – Torre Dell’Orologio.” Monday, May 29, 2006. Contessanally Visual Online Diary. http://contessanally.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html (Last accessed June 12, 2011)

“Vive la vie: Piaget.” Exero Luxury Brands. http://www.exero.com/mastergate/secured/boytoys/piaget.htm (Last accessed June 12, 2011)

Zatorska, Beata and Simon Target. Rose Petal Jam: Recipes and Stories from a summer in Poland. Sydney: Tabula Books, 2011.

Copyright Saturday, June 12, 2011 by Derdriu