Audemars Piguet, known for its luxury watches, enjoys a reputation as a prestigious Swiss brand. Its flagship collection is the Royal Oak. Let's take a look at its appeal.
What is Audemars Piguet?
If you are a watch enthusiast, you will know the name Audemars Piguet. With its sophisticated design and high practicality, it has many fans among celebrities and executives around the world.
The elegant finish shines with a dazzling brilliance, even giving off an air of nobility.
Let's trace the story of how Audemars Piguet, which was born in Switzerland, rose to become the pinnacle of the watch industry.
One of the world's three major watch brands
Audemars Piguet is not just a widely known watch brand, but one of the few brands that enjoys the highest status, boasting an extremely high level of trust and a high reputation among watch enthusiasts around the world.
You may have heard of watch brands such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, and Audemars Piguet is one of the world's three biggest watch brands.
The History of Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in the town of Le Brassus in the Swiss Jura Mountains. It remains based there today, and has been family-run by both the Audemars and Piguet families for over 145 years.
The company's history began with two genius watchmakers: Jules-Louis Audemars, born into a family of watchmakers and hailed as a genius engineer, and Edouard-Auguste Piguet, a childhood friend who excelled in sales and management.
In the late 19th century, the watch industry was in fierce competition to develop pocket watch movements equipped with complex mechanisms, and in 1899, Audemars Piguet released the "Universelle."
It amazed the world as a groundbreaking model that combined Audemars Piguet's high level of technology and artistry.
Even after the retirement of the two founders, the company's passion for technological development continued. In particular, its pursuit of thinner pocket watches laid the foundation for its subsequent position as the pinnacle of the wristwatch industry.
Audemars Piguet Watchmaking
Audemars Piguet's watchmaking is based on a unique philosophy. No matter how times change, their strong and unwavering approach to watchmaking has captivated many fans.
Even today, all of the company's watches are created from freehand sketches. Watch designers are artists, but they are not limited to artistic merit; they are also artists and engineers who are well aware of the technical limitations of the movement.
This is still the case in today's world where computer graphics are used. Even when sketches are digitized using the latest technology, they are refined into the ultimate analog movement, and are then elevated to the finest watches.
To achieve this, each part is handcrafted by a skilled craftsman, and it is also the craftsman who assembles them.
Through this process, a single watch is created from the sketch, taking more than a month, and sometimes even years.
Audemars Piguet's Features
Audemars Piguet's reign at the pinnacle of the watch world isn't just down to its history: there are many brands that rival it in terms of the length of time they've been a watchmaker.
The reason why Audemars Piguet has received so much praise from all quarters is because of its overwhelming technical capabilities and unparalleled perfection. These achievements have led to the high reputation that Audemars Piguet enjoys today.
Minute repeater
The minute repeater, which was first installed in a wristwatch in 1892, was what demonstrated Audemars Piguet's technological prowess to the world and instantly made the company famous.
The role of the minute repeater is to announce the time audibly. While it is not a function that is used on a daily basis these days, in the late 19th century it required cutting-edge technology.
The process of miniaturizing each individual part and assembling them with precision would not be possible without the world's highest level of craftsmanship.
This minute repeater is known as one of the three great complicated mechanisms in the world, along with the perpetual calendar and the tourbillon, which will be discussed later.
Automatic tourbillon
Following the minute repeater, Audemars Piguet shocked the watch world again with the introduction of the world's first automatic tourbillon in 1986.
The tourbillon mechanism itself was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), but Audemars Piguet is said to be the first in the world to successfully make it automatic.
The tourbillon mechanism is designed to minimize the effects of gravity and improve accuracy by rotating the regulator and escapement, but due to reasons such as the space required between the tourbillon mechanism and the automatic winding rotor, only hand-wound watches were available.
The launch of the automatic tourbillon made Audemars Piguet's advanced technical capabilities known to the world.
SS (stainless steel) model
Audemars Piguet has amazed the world not only in terms of technology, but also in 1972, a year that is said to have changed the history of wristwatches. In that year, Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak, a watch with a stainless steel case, which had an impact on the industry.
At the time, luxury watches were typically crafted from gold or other precious metals with beautifully curved shapes, but the company introduced a model made from stainless steel.
The use of durable stainless steel was a challenge to break away from the conventional notion of "luxury." This challenge created a new genre, the "luxury sports watch," and led to the current success of the Royal Oak.
Audemars Piguet's main collections
Audemars Piguet continues to fascinate watch enthusiasts around the world. Each of its main collections has its own unique brilliance, captivating many fans. Let's take a look at the collections.
Royal Oak
In the past, sports watches were associated with a rugged image due to their heavy weight caused by their robustness, making it extremely difficult to create a gorgeous and beautiful sports watch.
The Royal Oak collection broke away from conventional wisdom, pioneering a new field in luxury watches with its sporty yet sophisticated design.
When it was first released, it wasn't necessarily well received. It seems that the watch had to wait until public sensibilities caught up with Audemars Piguet's sensibility before it could match the image of luxury, including its stainless steel material and 39mm diameter.
Designer Gérald Genta (1931-2011) had such cutting-edge ideas that today no one would dispute that the Royal Oak reigns supreme among sporty luxury watches.
Royal Oak Offshore
Following the worldwide success of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet added a new collection in 1993: the Royal Oak Offshore.
The 42mm size was proposed, which was larger than the Royal Oak, and led to the subsequent boom in large sizes.
The Royal Oak Offshore, which has evolved to be more masculine and powerful, has opened up new horizons for luxury sports watches. As the name Offshore suggests, its voluminous case is highly water-resistant.
Emmanuel Guillet, who designed the collection, was selected at the young age of 22. The Royal Oak Offshore would later develop into two series: a chronograph and a diver.
CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet
More than 20 years have passed since the launch of the Royal Oak Offshore collection in 1993 and the Millenary collection in 1995, and the new collection "CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet" (hereinafter referred to as "CODE 11.59") made its debut at SIHH 2019.
CODE stands for Challenge, Own, Dare, and Evolve, and 11.59 means one minute before midnight.
The dial design is authentic, but the sapphire crystal and case made up of multiple parts, both of which are manufactured using modern precision machining techniques, are truly unique. Looking at the four words of CODE from this perspective, we can see the history and future of Audemars Piguet.
The new collection has quickly become popular, not only attracting existing fans but also attracting new Audemars Piguet fans.
Currently, the lineup includes models with complex mechanisms that showcase Audemars Piguet's capabilities, including automatics, chronographs, perpetual calendars, minute repeaters, tourbillons, and flying tourbillons.
