Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Piaget Hi-Beat Tonneau Dress Watch, late 1970s
- Maker / attribution
- Piaget (maker)
- Date
- late 1970s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 24 mm
- Stock no.
- 40991534
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991534)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Piaget Hi-Beat Tonneau Dress Watch (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991534), this is a wristwatch by Piaget, made in Switzerland, dated late 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 24 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
For most of its existence, Piaget has operated quietly behind the proverbial horological curtain, producing some of the most impressively thin mechanical movements in Switzerland and supplying them to numerous other maisons . But when the Piaget name was displayed on the dial, the brand utilized a distinguishable lavish style that became synonymous with a period of design-forward luxurious creations, representative of the American Dream in the 1960s and 70s, and embodied by those wore them –– Andy Warhol, Roger Moore, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elvis Presley, and many more. This particular example, a Reference 9691, dates to the late 1970s - though you can feel the pull towards that chic Eighties vibe! Featuring a 24mm 18k yellow gold tonneau case with a mineral crystal and black enamel cabochon crown. Its gloss black dial features gold ‘dot’ indices, a matching ‘dauphine’ handset and the Piaget signature positioned above the center post. It is appropriately fitted to a signed black alligator leather strap with matching 18k signed logo pin buckle. Not to be overshadowed by its svelte, dangerously sexy design, it is powered by an ultra-thin Calibre 9P2 high-beat, manual-winding movement - giving it serious credit in the mechanical department as well! If you’re looking for a watch that makes a statement, then look no further than this virtually New O ld Stock Piaget!
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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