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The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph.

This is a wristwatch that’s so known to many of you, perhaps it doesn’t require much of an analysis — but this really is HODINKEE and you’ll be able to believe you are gonna get you. The Royal Oak Chronograph is a wristwatch that has tens of thousands of fans all over the world, and a couple of detractors, also. The Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore families often appeal to quite different people, but I’ll get to that soon. In this review, I tackle a mainstay in the AP lineup, and also an interesting piece of haute horology, though one without its in-house motion. I will look at just how this 41mm column-wheel, vertical clutch chronograph wears, and if the matter of where the movement came out of is even something worth noting in any way. That is your HODINKEE Week About The Wrist with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, and it’s one worth spending some time with.AP is really a unique watch manufacture. It is one of the few worldwide haute horology brands that stays in the hands of its founding family, with several members of the Audemars family still sitting on its board. Consider the fact that Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne are equally owned by the Richemont Group (which owns everything from Cartier and Panerai into Alfred Dunhill, luggage maker Lancel, women’s clothing company Chloe, Purdey Guns, and Net-A-Porter), and Patek Philippe, while keeping its independence, has been marketed to the Stern household less than 100 years back. But, the ownership of AP is not necessarily the most interesting side of the 175 year-old manufacture — the question that matters is that purchases AP’s watches?

While ceramic has been a favourite material at Audemars Piguet for the Royal Oak, it has not been used for a watch bracelet, until now. Just announced at SIHH 2017, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar is ceramic from end to end, with the case, bezel and every link of the bracelet in black ceramic.

The case is 41mm in diameter, just like the standard model, but the finishing of the case and bracelet takes significantly more time than for the steel or gold equivalent. While a steel model takes some six hours to machine, polish and put together, the ceramic version takes 30 hours.

To match the ceramic case, the dial is a dark grey with black sub-dials, decorated with the chequerboard grande tapisserie guilloche that’s synonymous with the Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic 2

Historically an important complication for Audemars Piguet, the ceramic perpetual calendar is powered by the calibre 5134, a movement based on the extra-thin calibre 2120/2121 found in the original Royal Oak of 1972.

In fact, the calibre 5134 is evolved from the calibre 2120/2802, the movement used for the 39mm Royal Oak perpetual calendar that was in production for some 30 years. The key difference in the new calibre being the addition of a 52 week indicator.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic 1

Price and availability 

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in black ceramic (ref. 26579CE.OO.1225CE.01) is priced at SFr85,000. It should be available in the second half of 2017.


 

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This is a watch that’s known to many of youpersonally, it may not need much of an investigation — but this is HODINKEE and you’ll be able to believe you’re gonna get you. The Royal Oak Chronograph is a watch that has thousands of fans all over the world, and a few detractors, also. The ROC, since I’ll call it, is something of a middle ground between two completely different Audemars Piguet buyers — the collectors, and, well, everyone else. The Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore families often appeal to quite different individuals, but I will get to that soon. Within this short article, I tackle a mainstay at the AP lineup, along with an intriguing bit of haute horology, though one with no in-house motion. I’ll look at how this 41mm column-wheel, vertical clutch chronograph wears, and if the matter of where the movement came from is something worth noting at all. That is the HODINKEE Week On The Wrist with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, and it’s one worth spending some time with.AP is a truly distinctive watch manufacture. It is among the very few worldwide haute horology brands that remains in the hands of its founding family, with several members of their Audemars family still sitting on its board. Think about the fact that Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne are both owned by the Richemont Group (which owns everything from Cartier and Panerai into Alfred Dunhill, luggage maker Lancel, women’s clothing company Chloe, Purdey Guns, and Net-A-Porter), and Patek Philippe, while retaining its independence, was sold to the Stern household less than 100 decades back. But, the ownership of AP isn’t always the most interesting facet of the 175 year-old manufacture — the question that matters is who buys AP’s watches?

Historically, many watchmakers had different specialties, like Patek Philippe and its chronograph-perpetual calendars or Rolex with its dive watches. Audemars Piguet, on the other hand, excelled at perpetual calendars, and still does, in fact. The watchmaker’s consistent focus over the decades on complications like the perpetual calendar is one reason why it remains the preeminent haute horlogerie house still owned by its founding families; in fact, some even regard the perpetual calendar as the company’s saviour. While Audemars Piguet Watches Uk Replica pocket watches equipped with calendars date back as early as 1875, one of the earliest perpetual calendars in the Audemars Piguet museum is a 1923 pocket watch that also boasts a minute repeater. It’s powered by the calibre 18SMQV, a hand-wound movement found in other similar Audemars Piguet pocket watches from the period.

The 1923 pocket watch beside the Tradition perpetual calendar of today

Audemars Piguet art deco perpetual calendar pocket watch 1923 1

Platinum, cushion-shaped with a gorgeous Art Deco dial, the pocket watch provided inspiration for the modern day Tradition line of complicated watches. The watch indicates the full calendar, as well as the moon phase and leap year, displayed on a solid gold dial with striking italicised Breguet numerals that are also made of gold.

Audemars Piguet art deco perpetual calendar pocket watch 1923 4

Audemars Piguet art deco perpetual calendar pocket watch 1923 3

Audemars Piguet art deco perpetual calendar pocket watch 1923 2

Featuring a similarly styled dial is another treasure from the museum, the complete calendar equipped with the calibre 10GHSM. Produced from 1924 to 1937 (but sold from 1925 to 1954, revealing how slowly these moved back in the day), this was the first calendar wristwatch made by Audemars Piguet. Though not a perpetual calendar, it is still extremely rare, with only 108 having been made.

Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar 10GHSM platinum

Though this model had no reference number, being produced before Audemars Piguet labelled its models, it is known from photos numbered 180 and 180B in the Audemars Piguet archive. All watches of this series shared the same movement, a hand-wound movement with triple calendar functions plus a moon phase built on a movement blank made by LeCoultre. These masterpieces sold for SFr1515 in platinum, and SFr625 in gold, when they were new. While all the watches were equipped with the same movement, they had different dials and cases (though the cases were all approximately rectangular) this specific watch is perhaps the rarest of the entire series, being the only one known with applied numerals on the dial. It was made in 1928 and sold two years later to Bittmann & Co., a now defunct jeweller in St Moritz, the tony Swiss resort town.

Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar 10GHSM platinum back

Intriguingly, the engraving on the reverse was modified many decades after the watch was originally sold. The original lettering on the back read “Paul H. Fassnacht New York 277 Park Ave”, meaning it was likely the property of a Mr Paul H. Fassnacht, a German immigrant who became the president of an engineering company with several patents to his name. The later modification to the engraving implies the watch was then gifted to Marlo and Klaus Mecke in 1961; Mr Mecke appears to have been an importer of chemicals. Around the same time, Patek Philippe made the first ever perpetual calendar wristwatch with a one-off creation in 1925, followed by the first serially produced perpetual calendar in 1941. Audemars Piguet only introduced its first perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1950, a model that would eventually be known as the ref. 5516 once Audemars Piguet began using model reference numbers.

Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar 5516 - 1

Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar 5516 - 2

Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar 5516 - 3

The ref. 5516 is important because five years later the model was improved, becoming the first perpetual calendar wristwatch with a leap year indicator, a feature that is standard on modern perpetual calendars. Patek Philippe took some 26 years to add the leap year indicator to its perpetuals. Only 12 of the ref. 5516 were made, with nine having a leap year function. To learn more about the ref. 5516, read our in-depth story published in August 2015. And then as all students of watch history known, the quartz crisis came along. Throughout the quartz crisis, Audemars Piguet was one of the few high-end watchmakers that continuing doing what it had been doing since the 19th century, albeit on a shoestring budget and declining sales. While it could pass for something from decades earlier, this extraordinary grand complication pocket watch dates from 1970, a year after Seiko introduced its first quartz watch, one that would eventually go on to kill the Swiss watch industry.

Audemars Piguet grand complication pocket watch c. 1970 4

While there were presumably no takers for such a complicated watch, Audemars Piguet made it anyway, several in fact. This features a minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar, powered by the calibre 17JSMCCRVQ movement (with all the letter suffixes indicating the functions).

Audemars Piguet grand complication pocket watch c. 1970 1

Audemars Piguet grand complication pocket watch c. 1970 3

Audemars Piguet grand complication pocket watch c. 1970 2

In 1978, the Swiss watch industry having been decimated, Audemars Piguet unveiled the watch that, in the words of museum curator Sebastian Vivas, saved the company. The extra-thin perpetual calendar had a movement just 3.95 mm high, a record at the time. It was an in-house perpetual calendar module, built on the Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 920, the slim automatic movement best known for being the movement inside the original 1972 Royal Oak and first Patek Philippe Nautilus of 1976.

Audemars Piguet extra-thin perpetual calendar 1978 1

With barely anyone else making any sort of traditional, complicated timepiece, Audemars Piguet found success with the extra-thin perpetual calendar, selling some 400 a year at the peak of its popularity. This specimen dates from 1981 and is the archetype of the model, with a yellow gold case and white lacquered dial. Fancier models were made, including versions with skeletonised movements, others in platinum and later on, the same movement inside the Royal Oak case.

Audemars Piguet extra-thin perpetual calendar 1978 3

Audemars Piguet extra-thin perpetual calendar 1978 2

Those dismal days are long gone, but Audemars Piguet still uses the same perpetual calendar movement in its timepieces, proving that good things last for a long time.

Many thanks to Sebastian Vivas, curator of the Audemars Piguet Museum, for his assistance with this article.

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Despite the svelte profile though, the gold 15202 is a surprisingly hefty watch. This tactile illusion is due, of course to the fact that gold density is almost three times that of stainless steel, lending the assertive wrist existence of a much larger sports watch to one that may otherwise slide easily beneath the cuff of a dress shirt. When you examine the bracelet and case when thinking about the weight of the gold, the slender profile but strong gold appearance gifts a contrasted personality that works well. It is secure, but a modern design icon in an old-school material.From that the dial-side, the appearance and texture of this 15202 is distinctly classic — such as a classic re-issue of the original 5402 in gold. Inside though, beats a different story. Here we have the Caliber 2121, now produced in-house by Audemars Piguet Watch Winder Box Replica (in the Royal Oak’s formative years, the 2121 was actually produced by Jaeger LeCoultre). It is an ultra-thin automatic motion measuring 3.05mm thick, and characterized with a unique 2.75Hz (19,800 vibrations per hour), though that slightly lower-than-average alternance isn’t readily visible as the 15202 does not feature a running moments hand. Unlike the 5402 that prompted it, the 15202 has a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback, through which the cal. 2121’s 21-carat gold rotor is visible, as it slides back and forth about the round rail conducting the circumference of this movement — one of the tricks allowing the 2121’s signature thinness.In complete, the 15202 will probably be available in three versions — the new gold options (yellow gold onto champagne yellow, or yellowish gold on blue) combine the present stainless steel 15202 that was re-introduced back in 2012. While the stainless steel Extra-Thin Jumbo Royal Oak starts at roughly $22,000, those looking to ‘stay gold’ can expect to part with more double that $55,000 for the 18-carat gold variants.

Despite being heavily centred on the inescapable Royal Oak, the line-up Audemars Piguet Pocket Watch Replica presented at SIHH 2016 was varied and interesting, with the exceptionally sonorous Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie being one of the highlights of the fair. The 2016 offerings from Audemars Piguet continues the strategy – capping production, models and distribution – that has put the brand in a strong position despite the slowdown in the luxury watch business.

With a handful of exceptions, the 2016 range from Audemars Piguet was devoted to its octagonal classic, mainly made up of prudent, incremental changes. Claude Ermenegger, the brand’s recently appointed creative director, did reveal in an interview that one of his goals is to broaden the offerings beyond the Royal Oak, though that has been an ambition for a long time. But for now, the Royal Oak is still king.

The production version of a prototype first unveiled last year, the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie is a minute repeater that is incredibly audible – in fact it sounds almost as loud as a large pocket watch (see the video below) – thanks to two key innovations. One is the silent regulator, essentially a tiny spring that works as an escapement to regulate the speed of the repeater chimes, eliminating the buzz from the traditional governor that interferes with the sound.

The other feature is arguably more interesting, though not entirely new. Instead of being fixed to the base plate, the gongs of the repeater are attached to a copper alloy disc that acts as a sounding board, amplifying the repeater chimes. This sits under the outer case back with holes around its rim so the sound can travel out of the case. It’s similar in principle to the construction of traditional alarm wristwatches like the Vulcain Cricket and Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox.

The outer case back with the apertures visible in between the screws

Even if not entirely original, the concept works wonders. The Supersonnerie is one of the loudest and clearest minute repeaters to emerge in recent years. With more fine-tuning it can only get better.

The downside is the price – SFr520,000 – because it is also a chronograph and tourbillon, and the chunky, 44 mm case. Fortunately the same features can be applied to conventionally shaped, round watches that are at least 43 mm in diameter, large but more manageable. And of course it will eventually make its way into movements that are just minute repeaters, sans other complications.

Another notable technically minded timepiece is the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked. As the name indicates, the calibre 3132 inside is equipped with twin balances wheels and twin hairsprings, all attached to a single balance staff. Each balance moves in the opposing but identical motion to the other, improving the stability of the rate, especially as the position of the watch changes.

Other brands have utilised double hairsprings towards the same end, but this is the first movement with two balance wheels on the same axis. The movement is essentially a variant of the calibre 3120, the brand’s workhorse, in-house automatic, with skeletonisation and the accompanying decoration. The case is 41 mm in diameter, and available in stainless steel or pink gold. The steel will cost SFr41,100, while the rose gold is SFr71,500. In Singapore dollars they are S$61,800 and S$107,700 respectively.

While pink gold is still the most popular colour of gold, Audemars Piguet is making an effort to rejuvenate yellow gold. It unveiled a quartet of Royal Oak watches in yellow gold at SIHH, the first time the metal has had a substantial presence in several years. Given the Royal Oak was originally available in steel as well as yellow gold in the 1970s, this return to its roots is unsurprising.

The week of the year indicator on the dial flange

The range includes the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 41 mm, Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm, Royal Oak Self-winding 37 mm and Royal Oak Quartz 33 mm. This echo the 50-piece limited edition yellow gold Royal Oak Extra-Thin Audemars Piguet created for Singapore retailer The Hour Glass last year.

Despite being the least complicated of the 2016 line-up, the Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph will probably sell in the largest numbers. Harking back to the candy coloured Royal Oak Offshore chronographs of the mid-1990s, the new Diver Chronograph is available in four striking colours with matching rubber straps.  Green will be sold only at boutiques, while the other three colours will be available at authorised retailers. The brightly coloured rubber straps are a bit much; black rubber straps will tone down the flamboyance while preserving the sporty look.

The steel case is 42 mm in diameter, the same as the traditional Royal Oak Offshore. An inner rotating bezel serves as an elapsed time counter, with a screw-down crown at 10 o’clock to turn the bezel, exactly as found on the Royal Oak Offshore Diver. And as on the second generation Offshore 42 mm, the crown and pushers are made of black ceramic.

The reverse is a display back that reveals the calibre 3124 inside, similar to the movement found in the Offshore chronograph. It’s an in-house automatic movement with a chronograph module on top.

The Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph will retail for about SFr26,000, or S$39,100.

Stayed tuned for more personal perspectives on the other brands at SIHH 2016 to come over the following days. Links to the rest of our SIHH reports below.

A. Lange & Söhne Audemars Piguet Baume & Mercier Cartier Greubel Forsey IWC Jaeger-LeCoultre Montblanc Panerai  Parmigiani Piaget Richard Mille Roger Dubuis Vacheron Constantin Van Cleef & Arpels Addition February 4, 2016: Prices in Swiss francs and Singapore dollars added.

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The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph.

This is a watch that is known to many of youpersonally, it may not require much of an investigation — but this is HODINKEE and you’ll be able to believe you’re gonna get you. The Royal Oak Chronograph is a wristwatch which has tens of thousands of lovers the world over, and a couple of detractors, also. The Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore families frequently appeal to very different individuals, but I will get to this soon. Within this review, I handle a mainstay in the AP lineup, along with an interesting bit of haute horology, though one with no in-house movement. I will look at just how this 41mm column-wheel, vertical clutch chronograph wears, and if the issue of where the motion came from is even something worth noting in any way. That is the HODINKEE Week On The Wrist with all the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, and it is one worth spending some time with.AP is really a unique watch manufacture. It’s among the few global haute horology brands which stays in the hands of its founding family, with several members of their Audemars family still sitting on its board. Consider the simple fact that Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne are equally owned by the Richemont Group (which owns everything from Cartier and Panerai into Alfred Dunhill, bag manufacturer Lancel, women’s clothing company Chloe, Purdey Guns, and Net-A-Porter), and Patek Philippe, while keeping its independence, has been sold to the Stern family less than 100 years ago. But, the possession of AP is not always the most interesting side of this 175 year old fabrication — the question that matters is that buys AP’s watches?

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Edition is the first and only Royal Oak “Jumbo” ref. 15202 produced in 18 ct. yellow gold – arguably the most classic metal for the Royal Oak aside from steel. To go with the yellow gold case and bracelet, the dial is a dark green, with the hands, hour markers and applied AP logo also in yellow gold. And most notably, the hexagonal nuts on the bezel are also yellow gold, instead of the conventional white gold.

Made in a limited edition of 50 pieces, this has the same specifications as the regular production Royal Oak Extra-Thin, which is available only in steel or rose gold. The case is 39mm wide and 8.1mm high. Inside is the calibre 2121, which has a rotor engraved with the logo of The Hour Glass and “One of Fifty”.

The dark green dial with the signature tapisserie guilloche of the Royal Oak

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Edition (ref. 15205BA.OO.1240BA.01) has a retail price of S$79,600, equivalent to US$59,000. Deliveries will start August 2015 and this edition is available only from The Hour Glass.

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When the hammers strike the gongs, this membrane vibrates and acts like the sound board of a guitar, dramatically amplifying the sounds of the gongs. In addition, the actual titanium case back is slightly raised to cover this membrane and contains apertures across the edge to permit sounds to escape. This results in one of the minute repeater watches we’ve ever heard. And the watch seems even louder when it’s worn on the wrist!At that the close of the afternoon, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch is still another powerful showcase of this new almost breathtaking technical know-how and one of a kind design sense. It is a thoroughly modern take on a few of horology’s oldest complications, and also we could observe that in the case of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch, it has also been thoroughly improved.And if you believe all this will not come cheap, you’d be right. Though the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch is not a limited edition, it has a princely price of597,400.

Created for a nation where the Audemars Piguet Offshore is deeply desirable, the Royal Oak Offshore “Pride of Indonesia” is a 100-piece limited edition in titanium and pink gold with the national emblem Garuda Pancasila on the case back.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore “Pride of Indonesia” is an old school 42mm Offshore in titanium, with the crown and pushers covered in synthetic rubber (not the ceramic of the current Offshore).  The case back is in pink gold case and decorated with a relief of Garuda Pancasila, an eagle that’s the national symbol of Indonesia. The dial is dark grey with a brushed finish, an unusual look for the Offshore which typically features dials decorated with the checkerboard “mega tapisserie” guilloche. And the numerals, hands, sub-dials and flange are gilded in pink gold.

Underneath the pink gold case back is the calibre 3126/3840, AP’s in-house automatic movement with a Dubois-Depraz chronograph module on top.

AP has been more judicious with limited editions since the current chief executive Francois Bennahmias took over, so such Offshores are appearing at a lower frequency than before. The Pride of Indonesia is the sixth in the “Pride” series, after Russia (2005), China (2008), Mexico and Argentina (both in 2010), and most recently Thailand (2013), all middle income countries with a high Gini coefficient.  The very first Pride of Indonesia, numbered 001/100, will be auctioned for charity during the launch event today, with all the proceeds going to the National Museum of Indonesia. The Pride of Indonesia (ref. 26179IR.OO.A005CR.01) is fitted to a dark grey alligator strap with a titanium tang buckle with a pink gold pin. It’s limited to 100 pieces, with a retail price of S$53,400, and available at Audemars Piguet boutiques in Jakarta and Singapore.

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Today, watches like the Royal Oak perpetual calendar skeleton (a benchmark in AP’s collection and among the best perpetuals available on the market, in my own opinion), the Royal Oak Equation of Time, the revolutionary Chron-AP, and also this Millenary Minute Repeater prove that AP is without a doubt a top-tier manufacture. AP’s in-house self-winding caliber 3120, located inside the basic Royal Oak 15400, is also one of the finest base moves in the world. All these are the things which keep AP pertinent to “real” watch lovers that sometimes get lost in the buzz around the other kinds of AP buyers.And then there’s your average well-to-do watch purchaser. To mepersonally, the best analogy for this other type of AP purchaser is advised via a singular scene in 1 episode of one television series that was popular for a period of time some years ago. I am talking about Entourage, and I wager the great majority of you know exactly to which scene I am referring.Ari Gold receives a good gold Royal Oak chronograph (not unlike the watch I will review down under) by his then-soon-to-be boss, that explains it as “One of the best watches in the world.” The camera then pans to the solid gold watch from its box, and Ari is in disbelief regarding the gift — and thus, AP is introduced to a whole group of potential new clients, the guys who watch Entourage. From this moment on, you see a number of the personalities on the show wearing APs. Many at the time considered Audemars Piguet had paid for the placement, but in discussions with AP through the years, it had been revealed to me not a single dollar was exchanged. Rather, a specific producer on the show proved to be a large AP customer, and insisted it be a Royal Oak introduced to Ari. Entourage did a great deal for AP, but it wasn’t this one placement that defines the “other” kind of AP client. It will give you a good notion of where AP is popular, and that’s in Hollywood, music, and sports, with all the young and moneyed.

Modelled on the Royal Oak wristwatch, the Audemars Piguet Watch Winder Box Replica Floral Clock is a gift to Singapore for its 50th year of independence, on display at Gardens by the Bay.

Seven metres, or some 23 feet, in diameter, the Audemars Piguet Floral Clock is the largest and only such clock in Singapore. Combining horology, landscaping and floriculture, the clock is a gift from the Swiss watchmaking to Singapore, which celebrates its Golden Jubilee in 2015. Taking several weeks to construct (the process is detailed in photos at the end), the clock is a replica of the Royal Oak, with an octagonal bezel made of granite with weather resistant, stainless steel octagonal nuts. And each of the steel hour markers have embedded LED lights so indicate the time at night. Based on the tapisserie guilloche of the Royal Oak, the checkerboard dial of the clock is filled with over 20 varieties of tropical plants. Because the plants mature at different rates, the face of the clock will change with the seasons as the plants are refreshed.

The official opening of the clock, attended by (from left): Dr. Kiat W. Tan, CEO of Gardens by the Bay, Mr Oliviero Bottinelli, Member of the Board of Directors, Audemars Piguet Holding SA, Guest-of-Honour and Minister for National Development, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, and Mr Thomas Kupfer, Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation. 

The pink Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) for instance is a perennial plant that will last for numerous seasons, making it a semipermanent part of the dial. In contrast the purple Wishbone Flower (Torenia fournieri) lasts only a year.

Madagascar Periwinkle
Wishbone Flower

The clock mechanism is electric, with a receiver for GPS satellite time signals to keep it running on time. It’s located less than five minutes away on foot from the visitor centre of Gardens by the Bay, a 101 hectare seaside park located at Marina Bay, adjacent to the city’s business district. For more information, visit Gardens by the Bay.

Laying the concrete base
Constructed the concrete tapisserie grid
Installing the granite bezel
Welding of the steel components like the hour markers
Planting

Photo credits: Gardens by the Bay

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What’s left of the “dial” is essentially a satin-brushed, ruthenium-toned ring round the border and both anthracite sub-dials. There’s a rehaut printed with a minute chapter ring too. In my experience, legibility is not the strongest suit to get a skeletonized watch, but that’s less of an issue in the case of the watch. The use of pink gold applied hour markers and pink gold baton-shaped hands, both filled with lume, should provide adequate legibility in most light conditions. The “Audemars Piguet” logo is printed on the surface of the sapphire crystal on the front, and this gives it a pleasant floating effect.The sub-dials are easy with white printed text and white baton-shaped hands. The sub-dial in 3:00 indicates chronograph minutes and the one at 9:00 shows constant seconds. 1 possible issue with legibility has to do with the chronograph seconds hand, which can be black with a lumed white hint. Between just how thin the hand is and also the color, reading the chronograph elapsed time may be more awkward than individuals may like. It is hard to say for sure until we get our hands on a tangible case of the watch.I’ve abandoned the situation and bracelet description for the past because these are some of the most recognizable aspects of the watch. This is the same Gerald Genta layout that is so popular among several collectors however with 44mm by 13.2millimeter case dimensions. This is a somewhat large watch with a wide bezel on both front and rear. All the straight lines and sharp angles additionally give it a bigger look. There are the obvious visual differences in the two materials but what I find more intriguing is that titanium is usually a light material with high tensile strength, while gold is a dense but soft substance. This signifies is that the experience of wearing every variant should be substantially different, and that I find this interesting.

The perpetual calendar complication reached the wristwatch soon after it was popularised by troops during the First World War, albeit only in one of a kind timepieces. The first perpetual calendar wristwatch was a one-off timepiece made in 1925 by Patek Philippe, equipped with a movement made for a ladies’ pendant watch. And four years later Breguet completed a perpetual calendar wristwatch with a wristwatch movement. But those wristwatches only had the day, date, month and moon. Despite being de rigueur in modern perpetual calendar wristwatches, the leap year only arrived in the wristwatch in 1955, courtesy of Audemars Piguet.

That was the year Audemars Piguet introduced the reference 5516 perpetual calendar wristwatch, the first serially produced wristwatch with a leap year indicator. By comparison, the first such perpetual calendar from Patek Philippe was only produced in 1981 (and sold in 2013 for US$1.7 million). Only 12 of the ref. 5516 were made, and only nine of those had the leap year indicator. The first three of the ref. 5516 had the moon phase at 12 o’clock and the leap year display at six (Christie’s sold one example for US$314,000 in 2008), before evolving into the final iteration of the ref. 5516. Depicted below, the final version of the reference is arguably the most beautiful, with a visually balanced and functional two-tone dial.

Made in 1957 but only sold in 1969 – the long interval between the two was not uncommon for pricey, complicated watches in the mid-20th century – this ref. 5516 is in yellow gold. And this particular specimen, part of the Audemars Piguet Watch Winder Setting Replica museum collection, is double signed with “Tiffany & Co.” below the watchmaker’s label.

This has a striking two-tone dial, with sunken sub-dials finished with circular graining. The lettering on the dial is prominently raised, because it was made the old fashioned way. Instead of merely being printed, the lettering is created by filling recesses with enamel, a technique known as champlevé. Practically non-existent today, champlevé lettering never fades.

The ref. 5516 is powered by the calibre 13VZSSQP, one of the most important base movements for high-end watches in that era. The VZ series of movements were made by Valjoux, a movement maker now part of ETA. It’s best known for the mass market 7750 chronograph movement now, but it used to make much more refined calibres.  Thirteen lignes in diameter, the VZ series eventually evolved into the Valjoux 23, 72 an so on. These movements were used in a variety of watches from the best names in Swiss watchmaking, including the Patek Philippe refs. 1518 and 2499.

Rare and historically important, the ref. 5516 is just one example of why the perpetual calendar is arguably the most significant complication for Audemars Piguet.

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Once the hammers hit the gongs, this membrane vibrates and behaves like the sound board of a guitar, dramatically amplifying the looks of the gongs. Additionally, the actual titanium case back is slightly raised to cover this membrane and contains apertures along the border to allow sounds to escape. This contributes to one of the minute repeater watches we have ever heard. And interestingly, the watch seems even louder when it’s worn to the wrist!At that the end of the afternoon, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch is yet another powerful showcase of this brand’s almost breathtaking technical know-how and unique design sense. It is a thoroughly modern take on a few of horology’s oldest complications, and also we could observe that in the instance of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph view, it has also been thoroughly improved.And if you believe all this will not come cheap, you’d be right. Though the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch isn’t a limited edition, it’s a princely cost of597,400.
Paradoxically, “The Beast” is back, and this re-edition Ref. 26237ST stays very much loyal to the original. The principal differences which we can see between this 2018 model and the first are very subtle, namely in the moments track and ‘Swiss Made’ print onto the periphery of this dial.Inside the re-edition Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph beats the Caliber 3126/3840, exactly the exact same movement used in other contemporary Royal Oak Offshore chronograph watches. Besides the time, needless to say, this motion comprises chronograph and date complications, a 22k gold rotor, beats at 3Hz, and includes a power reserve of 50 hours.
The Audemars Piguet Le Brassus Watch Price Replica Royal Oak is perhaps one of the most famous watches available today, and unlike other watches of comparable fame like the Omega Speedmaster or Rolex Submariner, its fundamental design also enjoys considerable versatility in terms of complications. From straightforward time-only variants to more complex offerings, there are many tastes of Royal Oak accessible, and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked Material Great watch is one of the more complicated examples.As an aside, and possibly it’s just me, but it feels just like brands really need to work on maintaining watch titles to a manageable span. Getting back into the watch at hand, this specific Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was designed in collaboration with Material Good — a New York-based luxury retailer. As the name clearly indicates, encased within the Gerald Genta-designed case is a openworked movement with a tourbillon and a chronograph complication.The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph is powered by the grade 2936, which is a hand-wound movement with a 72-hour power reserve. It’s a traditional 2-counter 30-minute chronograph movement with a tourbillon at 6:00. The skeletonization is complicated and complicated, and effort has gone into the bridge design to be certain the last result looks visually interesting and balanced.The bridge in 12:00, which holds the mainspring barrel, has an interesting arch-like design which complements the shape of the tourbillon cage on the other end. The bridges are in gold and polished to a brilliant end and with plenty of chamfering.

When Audemars Piguet unveiled the Royal Oak Concept RD#1 minute repeater last year, it was all cloak and dagger, since the patents related to its concept were still pending. Now that the patents have been granted, the prototype has become a reality in the form of the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie that was just introduced at SIHH 2016.

The Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie actually features three complications, a chronograph, tourbillon and minute repeater. The first two are essentially superfluous, it is the minute repeater that is truly outstanding.

The rear of the Supersonnerie movement showing the chronograph mechanism, and repeater hammers visible at seven o’clock

Audemars Piguet claims the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie chimes as loudly as ten pocket watch minute repeaters, a seemingly exaggerated claim but quite plausible once the Supersonnerie has been heard in action.

Under the dial of the Supersonnerie, with the minute repeating mechanism exposed

Three patents were instrumental in building the Supersonnerie. The first relates to the manufacturing of the gongs, a process that creates an optimal gong which nonetheless needs to be filed by hand to tune it.

The next patent concerns the case construction; the back is actually two pieces, an outer case back and an inner back that functions as a soundboard. Instead of being attached to the base plate as in ordinary repeaters, the gongs are attached to the inner case back, a thin disc of special alloy. This disc functions as a soundboard, amplifying the chimes of the repeater.

Notably, despite the large apertures in the outer back for sound transmission, the Supersonnerie is water-resistant to 20 m, as the inner back is sealed. Most minute repeaters are not water-resistant at all, since the cases are not sealed so as to improve the sound.

The last key feature of the Supersonnerie is the silent governor. The mechanism that regulates the pace of the repeater chimes, the governor in the Supersonnerie has a built-in shock absorber that eliminates most of the noise typically associated with its functioning. This prevents the governor from interfering with the sound of the repeater.

We will bring you more details on the Supersonnerie soon. In the mean time, follow our SIHH 2016 coverage for the latest from Geneva.

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The pink or white gold bracelet versions have been fitted with bracelets which, such as the frosted finish, have a hand-crafted element that gives the watch a jewelry aesthetic. Audemars Piguet calls it that the Polish bracelet since it’s given a high gloss to make it more supple on the wrist. It is assembled by weaving gold threads, much like a Milanese mesh-style bracelet, but with a huge difference. From the bracelet, the golden threads are braided in a right-over-left pattern rather than in precisely the exact same direction. The result is a bracelet which is more elastic and therefore hugs the wrist just like another skin. This is made more possible by the capacity to closely size the bracelet by adding or removing links in 5mm sections. The sub-dials on the bracelet models are mother-of-pearl. The instances on all three new Millenary watches have been scaled to 39.5mm, which makes them more wearable than the 45mm pieces in previous versions, and a lot more wearable than the 47mm Millenary 4101, a model more intended for a person’s wrist. The new, scaled-down models make the Millenary more purely a ladies’ collection, which is a good move for Audemars Piguet. All three new models include the manually-wound Caliber 5201, which can be reversed to show some of its components on the dial side. Pricing for the newest Millenary models will be available in mid-January. Regardless of whether or not you are into all things that glitter, it can’t be denied that 2017’s SIHH trends were punctuated by heaps of those 79th element in white, yellow, and frosty colours. And nobody needed more to show in this camp than Audemars Piguet, whose Extra-Thin Jumbo Royal Oak (reference 15202) in gold didn’t quite steal the spotlight from the showstopping Perpetual Calendar in ceramic, but it certainly came incredibly close — especially for people who’ve been after the last 40 or so years of the Royal Oak.

In the decade starting in the early 2000s the tourbillon wristwatch was wildly popular and spiralling whirlwind (pun intended) of profit for watchmakers. Offering a tourbillon became a benchmark for any brand wanting to be a haute horlogerie marque. But well before that Audemars Piguet was already a preeminent watchmaker, with its accomplishments including the invention of the first automatic tourbillon wristwatch.

The first tourbillon wristwatches date from the thirties and forties, French watchmaker LIP is regarded as having made the first ever tourbillon for the wrist, the timepieces made then were prototypes rather than watches available commercially. Omega has a wristwatch-sized tourbillon movement from 1947 in its museum, from a series of movements made for observatory chronometer trials.

An old invention that only became wild popular recently, the tourbillon in wristwatch form only really came into being in the eighties. Many of the pioneers with tourbillon wristwatches were independent watchmakers. Franck Muller claims the first ever exposed, dial-side tourbillon with his 1984 wristwatch, signed “Franck” as his early watches all were. Daniel Roth, while working for Breguet and Nouvelle Lemania, was similarly bold with the tourbillon calibre he devised for the Breguet-Lemania firm.

The pioneering automatic tourbillon

Audemars Piguet debuted its self-winding tourbillon calibre 2870 in 1986. Not only was it the first self-winding tourbillon, it remains the lightest tourbillon ever, weighing just 0.134 g thanks to the tiny, titanium carriage. And at the time it was the slimmest, standing just 4.8 mm tall including the case.

The aperture at six o’clock reveals the AP logo on the hammer winding weight

Most commonly seen in a distinctive oblong case with rounded corners and a sun ray dial finish, the automatic tourbillon was unique in several respects. For one it lacked a crown on the case sides, instead a flat crown was integrated into the case back.  Its slimness was accomplished by integrating the movement into the case, a construction dating from the seventies. Combining the two allows for significant reduction in thickness, which is why this feature is also found in several other ultra-thin watches, including the Swatch Skin and recent Piaget Altiplano 900P.  In the AP tourbillon the case back serves as the base plate of the movement, with the gear train and rotor mounted on the case back. Notably the bridges of the movement are solid gold, which might make this the first gold movement ever.

A prototype of the automatic tourbillon

 

The production model was inverted to put the tourbillon at 11 o’clock

The hammer rotor is visible at 11 o’clock

Made of a heavy iridium-platinum alloy, the rotor was a swung from left to right, a mechanism known as a hammer automatic. Mostly found in early automatic timepieces, hammer automatic mechanisms are not particularly efficient, but they can be very compact, as demonstrated by this watch.

The evolution

Despite being ingeniously engineered and remarkably small, the first automatic tourbillon was not a commercial hit, being expensive and somewhat delicate. The movement lived on as the calibre 2875. Wider and thicker – the new calibre was 30% larger than the original – the 2875 was a far more robust movement that nonetheless retained the same hammer winding and hidden crown. And it featured the addition of a date and power reserve indicator.

The evolution of the original automatic tourbillon, the cal. 2875, circa 1991
Back-winding crown
The titanium cage remains similar in form, but larger

The calibre 2875 was found in several models, including various Royal Oak tourbillons (the only Royal Oak watches ever without a crown), but is no longer in the collection. Instead it has been superseded by the tourbillon created by Renaud & Papi, the complications specialist AP acquired in 1992.

Renaud & Papi

Though the Renaud & Papi tourbillon cage was inspired by an old Vallée de Joux design, it is one of the most recognisable tourbillon cages made today. The three-spoke Renaud & Papi tourbillon is found in wristwatches from brands as diverse as Cartier (most often on the grand complication) and Richard Mille, which gets all its tourbillons from Renaud & Papi.

Tradition d’Excellence No. 2, tourbillon with perpetual calendar and minute repeater

In Audemars Piguet watches the tourbillon typically has a slightly angled, inverted V-shape bridge, as found on the Tradition repeater-tourbillon.

Some intriguing variations have also been produced, including the wavy bridge of the Royal Oak Concept Watch 1.

And the successor of the first automatic tourbillon is probably the calibre 2897 in the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph Tourbillon. This features a novel peripheral winding mechanism, with the rotor sitting on the rim of the movement so as not to obscure any part of it.

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Fortunately, it is not all teary-eyed past-reviving that is happening at this anniversary — kudos to AP for that. 26421ST and 26421OR, that possess an entirely new design in two different instance materials.Based on two before Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph watches, especially the Ref. 26388PO (see our hands on with it here) and 26288OR, these new Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph watches come in stainless steel and 18k rose gold respectively, and feature a brand new case design that has a thinner bezel and hence a more spacious dial. Nevertheless, the distinctive Royal Oak Offshore design traits are all undamaged. The 45mm instance remains angular, the bezel remains octagonal, and there’s no lost those vulnerable hexagonal screws on the bezel. Completing the look are black porcelain pushers to your chronograph and a screw-down crown. Water resistance is also 100m. On the dial, one can see the exposed motion and the tourbillon in 9 o’clock. Opposite the tourbillon at 3 o’clock is the 30-minute counter for the chronograph. Also clearly visible are the two mainspring barrels. This particular movement features 338 parts, an incorporated chronograph movement which has a column wheel mechanism, a beat rate of 3Hz, and a power reserve of a whopping 237 hours. Royal Oak Offshore fanatics are definitely eager to understand the costs, and we’ll update the article when we are able to confirm.

Over the weekend four timepieces from Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Zenith were auctioned in Singapore. All sold for well above the retail prices, raising nearly S$100,000 for the Community Chest. 

On 30 November Singapore charity the Community Chest held its annual fundraising dinner (full disclosure: I was a member of the event’s organising committee), which included an auction of items donated for the event. Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Zenith generously contributed timepieces for the charity auction. The four timepieces raised S$96,000, with all selling at above the recommended retail prices. The top lot of the event was the Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 in rose gold, one of the most distinctive models in the Millenary collection, featuring an open dial that reveals the wonderfully decorated movement. This hammered at S$54,000, above the tax free retail price of S$49,500.

That was followed by the Zenith El Primero 410 Singapore Edition. Inspired by the original El Primero 410 of the seventies, this is a limited edition of 45 pieces available only in Singapore. With a retail price of $14,800, it sold for S$20,000.

Also selling for S$20,000 was the Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Classique clock, the ingenious clock that runs on air and Swiss government’s gift of choice for foreign dignitaries. The hammer price was more than double the retail price of S$7860.

And finishing up the quartet was a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms wall clock, modelled on Blancpain’s signature diver’s watch. Typically only found in Blancpain boutiques and never offered for sale, the wall clock sold for S$2000.

The event raised S$2.8 million in total for Community Chest, a charity overseen by the Singapore government. As a member of the organising committee for the Community Chest Gala Dinner 2014 I would like to thank Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Zenith for the support.