Complicated functions, extraordinary craftsmanship, it is almost omnipotent

When it comes to fine watchmaking, historical heritage, watchmaking craftsmanship and a watchmaking style of its own are indispensable. Audemars Piguet, one of the "troikas" of advanced watchmaking, has always been sought after by watch lovers all over the world with its breakthrough style and watchmaking skills. In the more than 100 years of watchmaking history of Audemars Piguet, in the dimensions of timekeeping, astronomical calendar, timing, tourbillon, ultra-thin and other complex functions and skills, it has continuously opened up the infinite possibilities of advanced watchmaking in the field of complex functions. And lay a solid foundation for future sustainable and strong development.

The Ru Valley in the Swiss Jura Mountains is the birthplace of Audemars Piguet. This mountain range is also the place where Swiss high-end watchmaking brands and masters gather. But unlike other brands, when the brand was founded in 1875, founders Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet focused their attention on creating unique complication timepieces. In 1882, Audemars Piguet launched the first large-complexity pocket watch. This watch also has perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph and minute repeater functions. Whether it was placed at the time or now, it is definitely a technical rolling player.

1899: The Grande Complication Universelle pocket watch has more than 20 complex functions such as jumping seconds, minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar, large and small self-sounding, alarm, etc. The movement composed of 1,168 parts was produced by AP over many years.

In 1892, Audemars Piguet created the first minute repeater watch in the history of horology and sold it at Louis Brandt & Frère. Of all timepieces (pockets and wristwatches) made before 1900, 80% have one or more complications, covering various areas such as timekeeping, perpetual calendars and timekeeping. After entering the 1900s, Audemars Piguet continued to show unstoppable strength in the development of complex watches.

From 1920 to 1960, Audemars Piguet launched a variety of time-sensitive watches in the fields of minute repeaters, chronographs, and perpetual calendar watches. Not only that, Audemars Piguet continued to make breakthroughs in the miniaturization and ultra-thin direction of the movement, and launched the smallest 5-minute repeater at the time and the ultra-thin mechanical movement Cal. 9ML (named Cal. 2003 after subsequent production improvements). In 1955, Audemars Piguet launched Ref. 5516, the first perpetual calendar watch with leap year display in the history of watchmaking, and established itself as the leader in the field of complex watchmaking.

The quartz crisis of the 1970s and 1980s almost destroyed traditional Swiss watchmaking. In the past two decades, Audemars Piguet has mainly survived the crisis by making bold complications. The design of these watches breaks with tradition, and representative works include the Royal Oak series born in 1972, and the first ultra-thin self-winding tourbillon watch launched in 1986. In 1978, Audemars Piguet invested in the development of the world's thinnest self-winding perpetual calendar movement, laying the foundation for the revival of classic complications. The Ref. 5548 perpetual calendar watch with Calibre 2120/2800 is the world's thinnest self-winding perpetual calendar watch (only 3.95 mm thick). A powerful response to the quartz crisis, this watch heralds the return of Swiss Haute Horlogerie aesthetics and complications.

During the revival of the entire industry, Audemars Piguet not only firmly continued its complication expertise, but also took advantage of the vigorous development of the Royal Oak watch, which came out in 1972, to gradually apply complications to this iconic series. It can be said that Audemars Piguet has insisted on the accumulation and inheritance of complex function research and development for more than 100 years. After the advent of this series, it has obtained a more brilliant development prospect, which can be said to complement each other and achieve each other.

Create the classics of the times and set off a revolutionary trend of modern watches

The Royal Oak series, as we know it, was designed by Gérald Genta, a master watch designer with the reputation of "Picasso in the watch industry". Its first appearance was at Baselworld on April 15, 1972, and since then, the Royal Oak has been an icon of the era, setting off a stylistic revolution in modern watches.

Octagonal shape design, stainless steel case, 39 mm case diameter, everything seems to be different from the timepieces in the impression of "refined" and restrained Haute Horlogerie, no matter in terms of design, material, and even size. The changes made people feel novel at that time.

But Audemars Piguet is just ahead of the times and trends. Gero Zunda keenly captures the changes in production and lifestyles brought about by the rapid changes in economic development in this era, whether in culture, art or industry. . In this context, the needs and changes of consumers, as well as a more active lifestyle, will introduce sports watches in fine watchmaking into a new era. At this time, a watch that can bring new ideas to consumers is what the times need. As a result, the birth of the Royal Oak ushered in a new trend in luxury sports watches.

In the 1980s, the Royal Oak Royal Oak collection showed unimaginable diversity. In 1983, the Royal Oak Royal Oak series launched the first watch with day and date display (Ref. 5572SA), the case diameter was 36 mm, and there were four styles: stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold and stainless steel and yellow gold. Two-tone watch. The following year, more calendar functions were added to it, and the first perpetual calendar watch (Ref. 5554ST) was launched, equipped with the Calibre 2120/2800 movement launched by Audemars Piguet in the Ref. 5548 watch in 1978. The world's thinnest self-winding perpetual calendar movement with a central automatic rotor at the time.

Into the 1990s, the Royal Oak Royal Oak series further introduced different styles, sizes and movements, constantly establishing new technological and design monuments. The Royal Oak Royal Oak series launched the first skeletonized women's watches, equipped with the historical Calibre 2003SQ ultra-thin movement, only 1.64 mm thick. In addition to maximizing the hollow movement of this watch, in order to meet the aesthetics of women, Audemars Piguet has carried out diamond decoration on the hour and minute hands, and hand-carved pattern decoration on the splint, on the premise of not affecting the function. The light penetrates the movement fully, revealing the inner beauty of the structure.

In 1997, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the birth of the Royal Oak series, the first tourbillon watch (Ref. 25831) came out. The case with a diameter of 40 mm was equipped with Audemars Piguet’s second-generation tourbillon movement, Calibre 2875. The unique octagonal tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock offers a glimpse of its delicate construction. The crown of the watch is located on the bottom of the watch, a design that pays tribute to the world’s first self-winding tourbillon watch launched by Audemars Piguet in 1986 (the crown is located on the bottom of the case, rather than the traditional case side).

Going into the 2000s, the Royal Oak series builds on tradition and further explores the avant-garde design and micro-mechanical technology of the new millennium. The Royal Oak Royal Oak series Tradition d'Excellence N°4 watch (Ref. 25969PT) unveiled in 2004 integrates the essence of Audemars Piguet's different timepiece series, jumps out of the classic watchmaking framework, and innovatively combines a variety of complex watch functions. . This limited edition of 20 watches features an advanced twin-barrel design with a power reserve of up to 10 days, a subtle structure that can be admired through the partially skeletonized dial. On the dial with avant-garde design, in addition to the tourbillon cage and the minute chronograph sub-dial, there are 10-day power reserve and 24-hour countdown power reserve display respectively.

After 2010, Audemars Piguet continued to give more new possibilities to the Royal Oak series. Since its birth, it has been working hard for the integration of this series with complex functions. The Calibre 5133 movement carried by the Royal Oak Ultra-thin Perpetual Calendar Watch RD#2 in the picture above has changed the original 3-layer structure of the movement and adopted a single-layer structure to achieve an ultra-thin design. This patented movement adopts a central pendulum. The rotor, with a thickness of only 2.89 mm, sets a record for a self-winding perpetual calendar movement.

A modern expression of complications, a new era is about to begin

In the half century since the advent of the Royal Oak series, Royal Oak watches with different sizes, materials and functions have been carefully crafted by Audemars Piguet, bringing consumers a fine example of fine watchmaking. In order to commemorate the special significance of the 50th anniversary of this series, the brand has combined the ultra-thin design, hollowing process and the complex mechanism of the floating tourbillon, which is best at it, to deduce a new model with expressive style.

For a long time, Audemars Piguet has made great achievements in the research and development of hollowing skills. This Royal Oak Royal Oak series self-winding floating tourbillon skeleton watch has a floating tourbillon device, and the movement has a large-area hollow design in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. The monochrome design makes the hollow movement more Mechanical beauty, the multi-layer structure of the plywood has been polished in different directions, which has a stereoscopic visual effect.

The hollowing process has developed to the present, and it is no longer simply hand-carved by watchmakers. Audemars Piguet relies on a number of advanced technologies, including computer numerical control, electrical discharge machining and other technologies. Finally, the individual movement components are finished in different ways, including brushed, satin-brushed, circular, radial, snailed, and polished chamfers. More than 20 hand-polished V-shaped chamfers can be admired on both sides of the watch. This brand new product, both in terms of conception and final presentation, brings the combination of the hollowing-out craftsmanship and complex functions of advanced watchmaking to the extreme.

The most important is the Royal Oak series self-winding floating tourbillon ultra-thin watch (RD#3). This Royal Oak 50th Anniversary model is made of stainless steel, with a diameter of 39 mm and a thickness of 8.1 mm. It is the first "Jumbo" model with a self-winding floating tourbillon.

In order to create this watch, Audemars Piguet watchmakers overcame a number of technical challenges, how to integrate the tourbillon mechanism and the ultra-thin watch? How to make this watch more extreme? This is something that watchmakers need to consider and implement. This model will also be available in a 37mm version in September this year, which is more suitable for slender wrists, and the dial will also provide more options.

In order to fit the tourbillon movement in the slim and compact "Jumbo" case, the self-winding floating tourbillon required a very innovative re-conception, adjustment The location of some components is arranged to minimize the thickness of the space occupied by this complex functional device. The mounted tourbillon cage is made of titanium and has a rim-driven design. Not only does this help transfer energy to the tourbillon more efficiently, it also makes the entire adjustment mechanism lighter and more compact. In addition, the oscillating weights of several new movements launched for the 50th anniversary have been redesigned to present the "50th" anniversary number.

The Royal Oak has already passed its first 50th anniversary, and even if it is placed in the entire watchmaking history of Audemars Piguet, it is not very long. But its status in Audemars Piguet's brand history and even the entire watchmaking industry is beyond doubt. What has allowed Audemars Piguet to stand in the high-end watchmaking industry for more than a century may be due to the momentum of daring to break through and innovate. Is it true that Audemars Piguet is omnipotent? It will answer this question with time and works.