Journalist Shigeru Sugawara, who has covered the watch industry for over 30 years, writes a series on webChronos titled "Swiss Time Travel: Reminiscing on the 1990s." In this fourth installment, he looks back on Audemars Piguet's "glorious history." With Audemars Piguet's 120th anniversary approaching, Sugawara explores the museum pieces he saw at the brand's museums and workshops, and the cutting-edge technology of the time.
Text by Shigeru Sugawara
[Article published on January 28, 2024]
Looking back on a glorious history
Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of their workshop in Le Brassus, in their hometown of Vallée de Joux, by two watchmakers, Jules-Louis Audemars and Edouard-Auguste Piguet. The theme of Audemars Piguet's Basel '94 watch exhibition, held in Switzerland in April 1994, was "Retrospective of Tradition." The following year marked the 120th anniversary of the company's founding, and the aim was likely to reaffirm the history of this renowned, long-established watchmaker. Audemars Piguet, which had been working to open a museum in its former Le Brassus headquarters, brought approximately 100 historic pocket watches and wristwatches from its precious collection to Basel '94, where they displayed them in chronological order in a window display complete with commentary. It was truly retrospective. While the company would normally focus on its latest creations, it chose not to display new works and instead set up its booth within the museum, which was quite striking.
The start of the complete competition
At the time, Audemars Piguet was focusing its efforts on classical designs and sophisticated complications inspired by the company's historical models. While not open to the public in showcases, the watches they showed off in the reception area of their booth included a model incorporating an ultra-thin perpetual calendar mechanism in a square case from the 1940s, and a model featuring a grand sonnerie in a simple round case, which was completed after four years of development. Both models proudly showcased Audemars Piguet's overwhelming prowess as a master of complicated timepieces.
Incidentally, the high complications section of Basel '94 was packed with new releases, including tourbillons and minute repeaters from Breguet and Vacheron Constantin, a minute repeater from Jaeger-LeCoultre, a perpetual calendar chronograph from Patek Philippe, a perpetual calendar from IWC, a tourbillon from Girard-Perregaux, and even a central tourbillon from Omega, and the so-called complete watch race had already begun. Thus, in the 90s, a common understanding was beginning to form that the brands with the technology to produce highly difficult classic complicated mechanisms such as perpetual calendars, tourbillons, and minute repeaters were top-tier.
The Vallée de Joux returns
In April 1994, the day after visiting Jaeger-LeCoultre's headquarters, I visited Audemars Piguet, also based in the Vallée de Joux. I was greeted by Stephen Urquhart (who later became president of Omega), who at the time co-managed the brand with Georges-Henri Meylan. My guide was Martin K. Werli, who, together with renowned German watch journalist Gisbert Brunner, published "AUDEMARS PIGUET" (1993), a book summarizing the history of Audemars Piguet and its museum pieces. As museum director, Werli personally photographed many of the collection items featured in the book, making him a veritable walking encyclopedia of Audemars Piguet.
First, Mr. Werli gave us a tour of the workshop. At the time, 80 of the 250 employees were master watchmakers, and we were told that in the workshop that specializes in traditional complicated watches, skilled craftsmen produce one every few years. "I come in early in the morning and leave whenever I like in the evening," said the craftsman, explaining that it is important to work on complicated watches at one's own pace. In the quiet workshop with lush greenery beyond the windows, time seems to flow slowly and specially.
The impact of the Royal Oak Offshore
The headquarters workshop primarily produced watches with classical designs, such as the round-shaped "Jules Audemars" and rectangular "Edouard Piguet," which formed the brand's core in the 1990s. However, the "Royal Oak Offshore," which had made a sensational debut the previous year (1993), was a completely different design that blew me away. Completed in March 1994 and ready to ship, the "Royal Oak Offshore" was simply massive and thick. Its scale surpassed anything I'd seen before, and the only word I could think of to describe it was "amazing!" The original "Royal Oak" had already been on the market for 20 years, but I recall that the boom that has recently been seen in Japan had yet to materialize. In fact, perhaps because Audemars Piguet had focused heavily on promoting its golf collaboration, it was perceived as a luxury sports watch aimed at older, more mature golfers, rather than a watch lover of younger generations. However, the Royal Oak Offshore in front of me felt something similar yet different. This model, with its tough and powerful exterior and chronograph, I couldn't imagine what kind of person would wear it. Perhaps it was more than just an outdoor enthusiast, but an extreme sports professional?
Amazing Tourbillon Watches
The Audemars Piguet Museum, housed in the old company building, was explained during my interview as being scheduled for its 120th anniversary in 1995, whereas the new "AUDEMARS PIGUET" published in 2011 states that it opened in 1992. While I'm not entirely sure why the opening dates differ, the museum piece I particularly wanted to see was the world's smallest, ultra-thin automatic wristwatch tourbillon, introduced in 1986. This model is said to be the world's first wristwatch tourbillon to be commercially produced, rather than a prototype. Unlike the commonly known structure, I wanted to know how the tourbillon's complex mechanism was made so thin. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to listen in detail, but I later learned the gist of it from a photograph of Werli in the brand's book. This extremely unique model, featuring an automatic winding system using a pendulum-shaped weight, an incredibly small anchor, and a mechanism that probably rotates the carriage using horizontal power, was designed using a computer and was an unparalleled masterpiece for the 80s.
In addition to the Le Brassus headquarters and former headquarters, I was also shown another workshop in Le Sentier. This location, which I was told is primarily dedicated to the development of cutting-edge technology, was the Renaud & Papi workshop, responsible for Audemars Piguet's technological innovations. It was merely an introduction to AP's other workshops, so it was disappointing that my visit ended with just a quick look. In the evening after our visit, the cameraman and I were driving leisurely from Le Brassus over the Col du Marchélus toward Lake Geneva. We suddenly noticed a car speeding behind us. It was Werli. He had returned the documents and photographs I had carelessly left on the reception table on my way out. I am eternally grateful to him. From then on, every time I crossed the Col du Marchélus leading to the Vallée de Joux, I was reminded of my mistake.
Profile of Shigeru Sugawara
Born in 1954. Watch journalist. In the 1980s, he covered France and Italy for fashion and jewelry magazines. Since the 1990s, he has focused on watches, covering the annual watch fair held in Switzerland for over 25 years. He has written and published numerous articles for watch magazines such as Chronos Japan and general magazines. In his free time, he enjoys running and mountain climbing.
