Is gen Z boring? We barely leave the house, hardly drink alcohol and rarely go on dates. Instead some of us are emulating the hobbies of our elders – crocheting, starting book clubs and even birdwatching.
Among younger demographics, “grandma hobbies” are cool. Perhaps that’s why I, a member of gen Z, recently felt called to pick up a jigsaw puzzle for the first time in over a decade. It came from Piecework, a puzzle brand that has become a Zoomer favorite.
With most ranging between 500 and 1,000 pieces, Piecework’s jigsaw puzzles are, in a word, eclectic. It is best known for its maximalist displays of food: there’s Tomato Tomahto, a canvas filled with tomato dishes, and That’s Amore, a spread of Neapolitan pizzas, olives and a moka pot atop a checkered tablecloth. In the non-edible category, there’s the retro Palm Beach Idyll and the whimsical Bloom Bloom. Its children’s puzzles are mercifully 100 pieces, and include Barnyard Boogie and Dino Discotheque.
Piecework Tomato Tomahto 1,000-Piece Puzzle
Piecework
Tomato Tomahto 1,000-Piece Puzzle
from $40
Piecework Dino Discotheque 100-Piece Puzzle
Piecework
Dino Discotheque 100-Piece Puzzle
from $24
Rachel Hochhauser and Jena Wolfe, the company’s founders, made design the center of Piecework’s identity. They wanted to create puzzles that “looked like coffee-table books that you’d want to leave out on your coffee table”, said Hochhauser. It worked: Piecework is now a multimillion-dollar company that has collaborated with magazines including Food & Wine and popular brands such as Mejuri and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
Its origin might sound like a horror film: a group of friends spends a stormy weekend in a cabin with no cell service. But Hochhauser credits a weekend trip to Yosemite as the start of it all. During that weekend, she fell in love with the cabin’s stash of jigsaw puzzles. “It felt like the perfect activity because it was social and you could talk, but you could also just sit there and work on it first thing in the morning with your cup of coffee,” she said.
Piecework Puzzle of the Month Club
With a background in design, she felt uninspired by many of the puzzle options on the market. “There weren’t any that I wanted to give someone as a hostess present, or that you would gift in the same way you would give someone a candle,” she said.
So she and Wolfe launched Piecework in 2019. The brand’s colorful spirit pays homage to the grandmas who inspire its founders, including Diane Keaton (who herself inspired the “coastal grandmother” aesthetic popularized by TikTok a few years ago), and Hochhauser’s own “very eccentric and stylish” grandmother. Each puzzle even has its own curated playlist you can listen to while solving it.
Over this past winter, my roommate and I slowly but surely chipped away at the 1,000-piece Happy Camper, migrating it to the windowsill or our couch when we weren’t working on it. (We’ve since invested in a puzzle mat that allows you to roll it up for storage, which has been a total game-changer.)
Happy Camper transported us to a summer day and helped us forget about New York City’s brutal, chilly weather. Whenever I worked on it, I lost track of time. The puzzle’s corresponding folksy playlist made me feel like I was somewhere in the woods, listening to the sound of a crackling fire instead of the sirens outside of my Manhattan apartment. I started to understand why so-called “grandma hobbies” were en vogue.
Piecework Happy Camper 1,000-Piece Puzzle
Piecework
Happy Camper 1,000-Piece Puzzle
from $40
CallKroon Puzzle Roll-Up Mat Set
CallKroon
Puzzle Roll-Up Mat Set
from $12.99
CallKroon
Puzzle Roll-Up Mat Set
from $12.99
“We’re all craving activities that, beyond being ‘offline’, are a bit wholesome,” said Hochhauser. “[Puzzling is] an alternative to endlessly scrolling that leaves you feeling more connected and fulfilled. There’s a reason these sorts of activities are classics.”
Since its launch in 2019, Piecework has expanded into the full (cool) grandma aesthetic, selling home decor such as cocktail napkins, matchsticks and quirky candles.
Last month, it acquired the home goods company Areaware, which, according to Hochhauser, will help Piecework “expand into new product categories and markets”. While she didn’t specify which categories or markets, she teased an upcoming product line debuting in August “that will take us off the coffee table and on to the couch”.
As for me, you probably won’t find me at a puzzling competition, but I’m already plotting my next jigsaw for the summer: the tennis-themed Court Classics, ready for the next cabin getaway.
Piecework Court Classics 1,000-Piece Puzzle
Piecework
Court Classics 1,000-Piece Puzzle
$40
Piecework
Court Classics 1,000-Piece Puzzle
$40
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