Discover the secrets behind the name of the Audemars Piguet Millenary and discover its story

Everything has a name, and each name has a meaning and a reason for being named. So, what is the origin of the name of that famous watch? In this column, we will explore the secrets behind the names of watches and introduce them along with their anecdotes.
This time, we will explore the history of Audemars Piguet's creative and iconic collection, Millenary, and the origin of its name.

Audemars Piguet "Millenary"

　A look at the Audemars Piguet website reveals that there are six collections listed: "CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet," "Royal Oak," "Royal Oak Offshore," "Royal Oak Concept," "Remaster 01," and "Millenary."

　Of these, the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, and Royal Oak Concept can be grouped together as part of the Royal Oak collection. The Remaster 01 is a special limited edition model. Therefore, it can be said that the CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak, and Millenary are essentially the three pillars of Audemars Piguet today.

　This time, I would like to talk about one of the three pillars, "Millenary."

The Millenary debuted in 1995. Its most distinctive feature is its horizontally elongated oval case.

　However, although the oval case was innovative, there was nothing else that stood out, and it was developed as a fairly ordinary collection. The lineup was the same as other collections, with three-hand watches, chronographs, and perpetual calendars. In short, other than the oval dial face, it didn't have any particularly distinctive features. That changed in 2006.

　At the SIHH in the same year, Audemars Piguet completely redesigned the Millenary under the theme of "La Temps Ovale" (Oval Time). Inspired by the Roman Colosseum, the dial featured a spiral pattern that mixed Roman and Arabic numerals, and this dynamic, asymmetrical design became the style of the Millenary thereafter.

　Also announced at the SIHH in 2006 was the Tradition of Excellence Cabinet No. 5 Millenary Perpetual Calendar Deadbeat Seconds Power Reserve, which dramatically changed the image of the Millenary.

　This model was a special limited edition that was the first to feature the new escapement, the "Audemars Piguet escapement," developed by Renaud & Papi (now Audemars Piguet Le Locle, hereinafter the same). The asymmetrical design, with the Audemars Piguet escapement at the 9 o'clock position and the dial at the 3 o'clock position, was perfectly suited to the Millenary's oval face, giving the impression that this innovative new escapement was exclusive to the Millenary. This gave the Millenary its unique style, with an asymmetrical open dial.

　This style was further developed the following year, in 2007. The Audemars Piguet escapement, which had been said to be "considered for mass production in a few years," was soon realized. The Millenary AP Escapement Deadbeat Seconds, which also featured an Audemars Piguet escapement at 9 o'clock and an asymmetrical dial at 3 o'clock, was released as a regular model. As a result, the asymmetrical open dial became the iconic design of the Millenary.

　Then in 2011, a new model, the Millenary 4101, was released, equipped with a movement exclusive to the Millenary.

　The newly developed movement, Cal. 4101, is located at the 9 o'clock position in an oval shape, and like the Audemars Piguet escapement mentioned above, the escapement is placed on the front side, opposite to the usual arrangement. The dial is located at the 3 o'clock position, creating an asymmetrical design.

The Millenary 4101 features an open dial, a style that is truly iconic to the Millenary brand.

The Cal. 4101 was developed by Naohiro Hamaguchi, who had moved from Renaud & Papi to Audemars Piguet and was then head of the movement design department.

The Millenary 4101 was designed by Octavio Garcia, who also redesigned the Royal Oak for its 40th anniversary collection in 2012.

　The Millenary 4101, designed by these two key men, became known as the Millenary's signature model due to its high level of perfection. Perhaps for this reason, you often see articles stating that the Millenary was designed by Octavio Garcia. However, this is completely incorrect.

　As mentioned above, the Millenary debuted in 1995. However, Octavio Garcia began his watch design career in 1999. He began designing for Audemars Piguet in 2003. So, while the Millenary 4101 was certainly designed by Octavio Garcia, it is impossible that the original Millenary model was designed by Octavio Garcia.

　So who designed the Millenary? Unfortunately, I was unable to find the answer by the time of writing this article. However, 1995 was shortly after the Royal Oak Offshore debuted in 1993 (the prototype was produced in 1992). The designer of the Royal Oak Offshore was Emmanuel Guillet.

　Emmanuel Guillet worked at Audemars Piguet from 1986 to 1999. This means that the Millenary design may also have been created by Emmanuel Guillet.

　So, the Millenary, which had built a success story like this, never made any further progress. Perhaps the distinctiveness of its oval case and asymmetrical design was too strong. The collection was gradually scaled back, and since 2015, only women's models have been available. As someone who has followed the brand since its debut, this is very sad.

　Another thing that's interesting about the Millenary is when the CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet debuted in 2019.

　Audemars Piguet announced that it would be withdrawing from SIHH after 2019. For its final appearance at the show, it will unveil the CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet, a major collection of 13 references, including five complications. The official announcement at the time described it as "the first new collection in 26 years, since the Royal Oak Offshore in 1993."

　So, I've seen a lot of articles in magazines and on the web that say "it's been 26 years," but of course, I've never written it that way. "Millenary" was released in 1995.

　However, Audemars Piguet has consistently maintained that it was the first time in 26 years. I recall that at the time, the year the Millenary debuted was not stated on the website (it now says "Born in 1995"). In short, Audemars Piguet has "prevented the Millenary."

　It's not uncommon for unpopular models to be discontinued. It's also common for a change in CEO or other top management to discontinue a model they don't like. However, it's rare to hear of a model being "discontinued."

　Audemars Piguet changed its CEO in May 2012. The new CEO, François-Henri Bennahmias, began development of the "CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet" in October 2012.

　So perhaps it was François-Henri Bennahmias who wanted to make "Millenary" "forget it never happened." But why? If he didn't like it, he could have just discontinued it.

　But, well, I'm glad it survived. The current model is labeled "ladies," but the 39.5mm case size is a personal preference, and the Milanese bracelet is nice too. The manual winding is also appealing. The single-hand "Millenary Frosted Gold Philosophique" would also look stylish as a dress watch. So, if possible, I'd be happy if the collection continued to grow from here.

The name "Millenary" comes from the fact that it was created with the aim of reaching a new century, or millennium. Now, a quarter of a century later, I think the Millenary collection is still fresh and wonderful. It would be a shame to pretend it never existed.

Yutaka Fukuda
Writer and editor. Writes about fashion, watches, cars, and other lifestyle topics for magazines such as "LEON" and "ENGINE" as well as the web. Has appeared in numerous videos for the web magazine "FORZA STYLE."
Instagram:@fukuda1959