Piaget is creating watches and pendants that mimic the curves of your fingerprint.

Science or Jewelry

Fingerprints? Getting them usually means you're on your way to the slammer . . . or else you just ate something chocolaty. But with fingerprint watches and pendants from Swiss watchmaker and jewelry company Piaget, having your fingerprint taken means you are on your way to a very special piece of jewelry - one that exactly replicates the lines on your rap sheet.

Le fingerprint, the inspiration for Piaget's latest line of jewelry.

"Everyone's fingerprint is unique and in essence a work of art."

Piaget has always offered to customize any of their products for their best customers, but this line allows an unprecedented degree of uniqueness.

The road begins with a one-on-one consultation in any Piaget store, followed by a fingerprinting session (you might say it's a luxury piece and jewelry store protection system in one).

"Everyone's fingerprint is unique and in essence a work of art," says Larry Boland, the president of Piaget in the U.S. "The process is not unlike the experience of having a suit custom made or having a fitting for a couture gown."

After the consultation, the digital image of the print is sent to Geneva, where a designer renders it into a sketch. The sketch is painstakingly executed in gold and diamonds, a process which takes approximately 6 months.

"The designer works a bit like a sculptor, fashioning the gold and diamonds into a fluid form and bringing the fingerprint to life in a dazzling way," says Boland.

Want to give it as a gift to someone? You could try to figure out how to secretly get his or her fingerprint yourself, or you could just give another Piaget piece and exchange it for something from the fingerprint line afterwards.

Fingerprint jewelry is being bought up by everyone from "Hollywood royalty to real royalty," says Boland.

If the retail price of $32,300 seems a little steep, you could always opt for a less expensive version, such as something from the Meant4U line of bijoux made from moulds of your thumbprint. Either way, you'll have a piece, which, much like your prison tat, is unmistakably yours.

Posted on June 05, 2006