Audemars Piguet
Haute Horlogerie between tradition and the avant-garde
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Two friends – one brand
They began their careers as repasseurs in the last quarter of the 19th century. The watch specialists who practised this historic trade in their day were the last to hold the finished watch in their hands before it left the manufacture. They were responsible for the final finishing and the final inspection. 1875 was their year: Jules-Louis Audemars and his friend Edward-Auguste Piguet seized the favourable moment of the founding years and developed their first watches of their own. From 1881 the joint enterprise Audemars Piguet & Cie. was already producing complicated pocket watches with perpetual calendar, minute repeater or chronograph function, and in 1889 it won a medal at the Paris World Exhibition with “La Grande Complication”. Only 100 examples of this treasure, perceived even then as a luxury watch, made their way around the world. In 1891 the world’s smallest movement, and in 1892 the first wristwatch with a minute repeater, astonished both the public and the specialist world. From the 1920s onwards the second generation of the company took the helm and concentrated on producing wristwatches of the very highest quality, fashionable watches that shone with precious metals and gemstones. The creations of the Swiss firm also graced the elegant window displays of the fine jewellers Tiffany (New York) and Van Cleef & Arpels (Paris). Today’s Jules Audemars Edition takes up quotations from that period and combines, in captivating fashion, a feminine desire for beauty with masculine expressive power. Far more than luxury watches, these models are pieces of jewellery that find expression in a stupendous harmony of material, colour and form. From the very beginning there was the courage for the avant-garde and the creativity for extravagance. The Millenary Collection takes up classicist elements of aesthetics. The shape is unique, influenced by the architecture of the Roman Colosseum, and the elaborately worked dials are striking, with Arabic numerals and Roman appliques indicating hours and minutes on two asynchronous discs. In the “Lady Precieuse” version, countless diamonds sparkle on the bezel and on the bracelet. With networks grown over many years, HORANDO is able to track down even the rarer objects of desire from Audemars Piguet and to offer them for selection both for buying a watch online and in its own showroom. This naturally also applies to the models of the Audemars Piguet luxury watch Royal Oak. Lovers of luxury watches often spare no journey in order to convince themselves immediately and directly of the merits of this wonderful luxury watch in the shop at the Bamberg location.
“Royal Oak” - legend, masterpiece, beauty? All in one!
We do not know why the director of Audemars Piguet was in such a hurry when, on the afternoon of a September day in 1970, he contacted the renowned Geneva watch designer Gérald Genta in order to place an extraordinarily short-notice commission. The first design for a waterproof sports watch in steel is said to have been ready the very next morning. The prototype of the Royal Oak astonished with its avant-garde octagonal shape, its porthole appearance and the visible, robust screws that joined the bezel to the case. The resemblance to historic diving helmets was immediately apparent. With its appearance on the market in 1972, the model with the ultra-thin case left its mark on the modern watch manufacture. In 2012 Audemars Piguet reissued this style icon of modern watchmaking in eight models. Every detail quotes the early Royal Oak, which had borrowed its name from particular battleships of the British Royal Navy. The battleship became a flagship. Like the historic Royal Oak, the modern one is recognised by its “Petite Tapisserie” decoration. It is created in Audemars Piguet’s own workshops on traditional machines and produces its unique effect through the superimposition of two different patterns as well as the special blue colouring of the dial and the date disc. Forty years ago, a watch diameter of 39 mm was still considered oversized. Today it captures contemporary taste very precisely. Its profile in detail: case middle, bezel, bracelet and folding clasp in stainless steel. 8 hexagonal screws in white gold. The same movement as in 1972, calibre 2121 with automatic winding. Power reserve of 40 hours. 247 components in all. Oscillating weight in 22-carat gold.
In a class of its own – Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore
The Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph edition, limited to 50 examples, relies on novel materials such as forged carbon, ceramic (for the bezel), a titanium and ceramic combination (for the pushers) and straps in rubber. A total of 335 individual parts compose a masterly example of fine watchmaking. The movement of the Royal Oak Offshore can be observed at work through the anti-reflective sapphire crystal case back.
The watch of virile grandees
It comes as no surprise that a sports watch which shines through beauty as well as functionality is also coveted by the great names of competitive sport. The company itself shows its close bond with sport through its commitment to the highly successful Swiss sailing team Alinghi. Like other luxury watches of comparable rank, the limited models of Audemars Piguet in particular have become sought-after collector’s items and favourite pieces among enthusiasts with celebrity status. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya and racing legend Michael Schumacher wear Audemars Piguet. In 2012 the watchmaking empire dedicated to Michael Schumacher a limited edition of three models in titanium, red gold and platinum: seven stars to the right of the 12 o’clock indication honour his seven world championship titles. You do not have to belong to the sporting elite in order to form a bond with an Audemars Piguet. Yet anyone who feels this aesthetically and technically captivating watch brand on the wrist may consider themselves privileged. HORANDO attaches great importance to ensuring that high-performance luxury watches such as the models of Audemars Piguet, whose collector’s pieces command high prices, find their admirers at fair prices, whether the watch is bought online or in traditional retail.
Further Audemars Piguet categories at HORANDO:
Ladies, Jules Audemars, Royal Oak Gold, Royal Oak Black, Royal Oak Offshore, Royal Oak Rose Gold, Gold, Leather Strap, Code 11.59, Royal Oak Tourbillon, Royal Oak Extra Thin, Royal Oak Chronograph, Royal Oak Jumbo, Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph, Royal Oak Automatic
