High life; diamonds for dinner.(watchmaker/jeweler Yves Piaget)(The Talk of the Town)

Attempts to pump up sales in high-end (a.k.a. expensive) merchandise took a bit of a surreal turn the other night when Yves Piaget, the jeweller-watchmaker, flew in from Tokyo to host a dinner party for thirty friends and clients in a private dining room at Le Bernardin. It was called Une Soiree Exclusive. The atmosphere was dreamlike but charged with purpose, as guests streamed in accompanied by a guitar-and-bass duo playing elegant melodies. "Luxury music, for luxury," a Piaget press aide said.

"Piaget has names for everything," Ellen Akwa, the company's boutique director, said. "We've got five tables tonight, named for the sentiments: Love, Wisdom, Joy, Passion, and Time."

Philippe Bonay, Piaget's vice-president of marketing, said, "Asia is our No. 1 market in the world. I hear we're putting a Hong at the Love table, a Tang and a Yu at Wisdom, and a Wei and two Wongs at Passion."

M. Piaget was seated at the Time table, which, like the other four tables, had a centerpiece made of assorted Piaget watches and jewelry, with price tags attached. The pile on the Time table was worth $1,197,300. "We've got four million dollars' worth of Piaget on the tables," the press aide said. "Bon appetit!"

"Bon appetit," M. Piaget repeated proudly. He is a short man with white hair, dark bushy eyebrows that recall Henry Luce's, and large, new-looking teeth. He was attired in a blue Brioni suit and an Hermes shirt, tie, and matching pocket square. He fondled his wristwatch. "My baby," he said. "It's my new, upgraded Piaget Polo. So pure." He smiled and put his teeth to the watch.

M. Piaget's table companion, Baroness W. Langer von Langerdorff, a large woman, with foot-high flaming-red hair and brightly rouged cheeks, regarded the centerpiece with a jolly, tolerant manner. She wore huge sapphire-and-diamond earrings and a giant sapphire-and- diamond necklace.

"Piaget?" one of her table companions asked.