Breaking the rules with Audemars Piguet

“To break the rules, you must first master them.”

Founded in 1875 in Le Brassus by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet. They actually started of at home working on movements, and made it official a few years later. Specialising in complications and pocket watches the brand grew very fast in the first few years, and even further after the two founding fathers past away and left the company to their two sons. It still is the oldest watchmaking manufacture owned by its founding family. Something you see with very few high-end brands, not only within the watchmaking field.

The brand grew exceptionally fast in the beginning. Currently Audemars Piguet employs over a thousand employees and is one of the mayor watch brands in the world. But the road to success wasn’t easy for Audemars Piguet. They’ve overcome several  economic crisis, two World Wars and the Quarts crisis. You would assume that the brand was as global and international as it is today, but this is not quite true. Audemars Piguet always emphasized on making highly complicated calibres and quality pieces. Something not everyone can afford, or could back in the day. Yes they’ve made the classic dress watches like all other big brands in those days. But never in the quantity like Omega or Rolex did.

The Royal Oak

Most watches made by Audemars Piguet today are part of the Royal Oak family. The Royal Oak launched in 1972, it was revolutionary for its time. It combined the bracelet and case into one piece instead of the commonly classic watch case with bracelet adjusted to the case. Aside from the constructional advantages. Perhaps most recognisable is the overall design and aesthetics that the Royal Oak embodies. It is therefore that you can’t coffer the Royal Oak without saying the name Gerald Genta  once or twice. It was Gerald Genta A master watchmaker that designed the watch. He is known for his work on extremely complicated watches and designs for several of the top brands.

The Royal oak Offshore

Introduced in 1993 the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is made to cater to the less classical world we live in today. It is most commonly sold with the chronograph function but is available as a Royal Oak Diver and a few highly complicated models like a Perpetual Calendar split seconds Minute Repeater. The Offshore is also the “go to piece” for the brand when it comes to Limited Editions. A few examples of this are off course the Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James editions. Always made with a special colour theme and case or dial design.

The Millenary

Introduced in 2006 the Millenary collection is perhaps the model which represents the brand Audemars Piguet best future wise. It’s distinctive oval case design is a stunning format for some of their more intricate and Haute Horlogerie movements. Not as widely beloved as the Royal Oak or Offshore collection. The Millenary models are closest to what Audemars Piguet is trying to envision looking into the future. Head of Design Octavio Garcia recognises the importance of design, and hammers on more creativeness within the industry. 

The Jules Audemars and Tradition Collections

Both collections stand for simple and classic elegance. It’s as if you are browsing an entirely different brand when going thru all the different complications and classic case designs. Especially within the Jules Audemars collection there are many different complications from Power Reserve to Minute Repeaters and Tourbillons making it possible for almost everyone to find something that speaks to them. The Tradition Collection focuses on those who are interested in the typical and classic Audemars Piguet design. It holds a few different models both for men and woman.

All these different collections combined make Audemars Piguet what it is today. A High end brand with eye for design and quality. Like their motto  “To break the rules, you must first master them” clearly concurs. An interesting company with rich history and a clear view of the future.

Kind regards,