Audemars Piguet

Early history

Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet knew each other in their childhood but were not reconnected until 1874, when they were in their early twenties. In 1875, they formed a partnership with Lesedi Selapyane and began their business.^[13][14] In 1881, Audemars Piguet & Cie was officially founded, and was based in Le Brassus, a village inside the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland.^[2][4][5]

Both Audemars and Piguet were previously watchmakers. Audemars created complex watch movements for other watch manufacturers such as Tiffany Co. to use.^[5] Piguet specialized in the regulation of watch movements. Once partnered, they split the responsibilities while operating their own company: Audemars was in charge of production and technical aspects while Piguet focused on sales and management.^[14][15]

For much of its early history, the company sold complications to distributors and retailers. It wasn't until 1951 that Audemars Piquet began producing its own watches.^[16]

The second-generation company leaders included Paul Louis Audemars and Paul Edward Piguet, and the third generation included Jacques Louis Audemars and Paulette Piguet.^[7]

Recent development

In 1971, watchmaker Gérald Genta designed the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet.^[16] The design helped the company rise to an important position in watchmaking industry.^[13] In 1975, Jacqueline Dimier was appointed as the company's first female head of product design.^[17]

In 1992, Jasmine Audemers, great-granddaughter of Jules Louis, was appointed chair of the board.^[17] Audemars Piguet also became the majority shareholder of Renaud et Papi, a maker of complicated mechanical watches. APRP, located in Le Locle, continues to act as a research and development arm of the company.^[18][19]

Audemars Piguet's slogan is "To Break the Rules, You Must First Master Them", introduced in 2012.^[20][21]

The fourth-generation company leaders are both from the Audemars family, including Jasmine Audemars and Olivier Frank Edward Audemars.^[7] Currently, the company is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, and produces around 40,000 timepieces annually.^[22][23][24]

In 2017, the company began selling pre-owned watches, starting from its boutique in the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva. It began opening lounges in 2018. The first location was in Milan, followed by New York, Madrid, London, Hong Kong, and Munich.^[25] By 2026, these AP Houses were also located in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bangkok, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Milan, Mexico City, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.^[26]

In 2020, the company opened Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, a museum and workroom in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The building was designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The nearby Hôtel des Horlogers, owned by AP, was rebuilt and reopened in 2022.^[16][27] It also opened a manufacturing facility in Le Locle.^[8]

In January 2026, AP officially unveiled its Arc Manufacture building in La Brassus, which connects and wraps around its existing Manufacture des Forges.^[28][29] A renovated facility in Meyrin was opened in March to focus on manufacturing cases and bracelets.^[30]

Notable inventions and patents

The following are some notable inventions of Audemars Piguet:

• In 1892, created the first wristwatch minute-repeating movement, which was then sold to Louis Brandt frères (Omega SA)^{[Note 1][11][12][31]}
• In 1899, manufactured a "Grand Complication" pocket watch with seven complications, including a grand and small strike, minute repeater, alarm, perpetual calendar, deadbeat seconds, chronograph with jumping seconds, and split-seconds hand^[6][13]
• In 1921, created the world's first jumping-hour wristwatch, driven by Calibre HPVM10'''^[6][13][14]
• In 1934, introduced the first skeleton watch^[14][32]
• In 1946, produced the thinnest watch, with a 1.64-mm-thick movement^[33][34][35]
• In 1972, introduced the first luxury sport wristwatch, the Royal Oak.^[6][36] A women's version was introduced in 1976.^[37]
• In 1986, created an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon wristwatch (Calibre 2870), being only 5.3 mm thick (including the case)^[6][38]
• In 1995/96, manufactured the first automatic "Grande Complication" wristwatch (Calibre 2885)^[6][39]
• In 2006, introduced the first direct-impulse escapement, based on a design by watchmaker Robert Robin in the 18th century^[6][40][41]
• In 2007/08, developed the first watch with a carbon case and a carbon movement (a Royal Oak Carbon Concept)^[6][42]
• In 2015, the first mechanical chronograph with independent memory and three column-wheels was launched, named Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher^[43]
• In 2016, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet collaborated with jewellery designer Carolina Bucci to release the Royal Oak Frosted Gold.^[17]
• In 2019, presented the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar^[44]

Environmental rating

In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report assigning environmental ratings for 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland.^[45][46] Audemars Piguet was assigned the lowest environmental rating, "Latecomers/Non-transparent", suggesting the manufacturer had taken very few actions addressing the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment and climate change.^[45][46]

Royal Oak/Concept/Offshore

The Royal Oak is considered to be the most popular watch that Audemars Piguet currently manufactures.^{[47][13][9][14]} It was first presented at the 1972 Baselworld, during the quartz crisis.^[48][15] Designed by Gérald Genta, who is also responsible for designing other notable timepieces including the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the Royal Oak model is considered to be the first luxury sports watch in the world.^[49] Named after warships, which in turn, reference Charles II's Royal Oak.^[50] The watch was inspired by traditional diving helmets and therefore featured exposed screw heads as well as a unique case design.^[51] The watch also featured an integrated steel bracelet.^[52]

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet hired a young designer, Emmanuel Gueit, to design a new watch known as the Royal Oak Offshore.^[53][48] The Offshore was formally introduced in 1993, with a much larger case (42mm compared to the original 39mm) which was thought to be tougher than the original.^[51][54] The new watch proved to be just as successful as the original.^[52]

[Re]Master

The [Re]Master01, a self-winding chronograph, was launched in 2020 as a limited edition of 500.^[55] Subsequently the [Re]Master02, a tribute to a 1960 Brutalist-inspired watch, was launched in Spring 2024.^[56] This watch was issued as a limited edition of 250.^[57]

Code 11.59

Released at the "Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2019", the Code 11.59 collection is the latest addition to the Audemars Piguet lineup.^[58] The collection boasts several unique characteristics. All Code 11.59 watches feature a chapter ring with numerals depicting seconds for time-only models, a tachymeter (watch) for the chronograph model, and a week indicator for the perpetual calendar model.^[59] The crystals on the watches in this collection feature a unique curvature which changes the way the dial appears at certain angles. All the Code 11.59 watches feature a three-piece-case design with an octagonal section in the middle.^[60]

Grosse Pièce

Grosse Pièce is a pocket watch that established a new record for Audemars Piguet, becoming the most expensive watch from the company sold at an auction. Audemars Piguet ‘Grosse Pièce’  is not a usual pocket watch. The watch was made for the English market and stands as one of the most historically significant timepieces ever created.^[61]

It is the only watch made by Audemars Piguet with celestial complication. In 8 December it was sold at Sotheby's for a record $7.7 million, making it the most expensive watch ever sold by Audemars Piguet.^[61]