Actor Robert De Niro spotted wearing a Piaget

When Martin Scorsese needed a watch that would telegraph old-money Las Vegas glamour without screaming for attention, the answer was a 25mm Piaget Polo in 18k white gold with a lapis lazuli dial, reference 9131. Worn by Robert De Niro as mob-connected casino manager Sam 'Ace' Rothstein throughout the 1995 classic Casino, the piece is one of cinema's most precisely observed horological costume choices — a watch that says everything about a man who knows the difference between flash and taste.

The Piaget Polo was introduced in 1979, designed by Valentin Preziosi as a sport-luxe alternative to the Cartier Tank and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak then dominating the integrated-bracelet conversation. The ref. 9131 represents the Polo in its most refined register: a 25mm case in 18k white gold, an ultra-thin quartz calibre, and a dial hand-cut from natural lapis lazuli. Piaget's stone-dial expertise dates to the 1960s, when the manufacture began sourcing onyx, malachite, turquoise, and lapis lazuli directly, cutting and polishing each dial plate individually. No two are identical. The deep Prussian blue of lapis lazuli, veined with pyrite, gave the ref. 9131 a presence that no lacquer or enamel could replicate.

For collectors, the lapis lazuli-dialled Polo occupies a specific and increasingly contested niche. Piaget has discontinued this reference, and white-gold examples in good condition with intact, uncracked stone dials are genuinely scarce. The fragility of semi-precious stone dials means survival rates are lower than for conventional dials, which concentrates the supply further. Among Piaget specialists, the combination of white gold, lapis lazuli, and the classic Polo bracelet is considered one of the purest expressions of the brand's 1980s golden era.

De Niro's character Rothstein is costumed throughout Casino as a man of cultivated, period-specific taste — wide-lapel suits, tinted glasses, and a watch collection that reflects deep pocket and discernment rather than ostentation. The Piaget Polo ref. 9131 fits that brief precisely. It is a watch worn close to the wrist, quiet in proportion, devastating in detail.

On today's grey market, a well-preserved Piaget Polo ref. 9131 in 18k white gold with lapis lazuli dial trades at approximately $13,000 — a figure that reflects both the rarity of the stone dial and the sustained cinematic association that shows no sign of fading.