Futuristic OAKS
AUDEMARS PIGUET SWITCHES UP ITS CLASSIC
Jules Louis Audemars passed away in 1918 and one year later so did his business partner Edward Auguste Piguet.
A century afterwards, their legacy continues in Le Brassus, a small village in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, with Audemars Piguet being the country’s oldest watchmaker still in the hands of its founding families.
The founders would probably have no idea how their eponymous brand have become the industry’s avant-garde, exemplified by its Royal Oak Concept collection.
This year, the series reaches new heights with a flying tourbillon integrated for the first time into futuristic timepieces, including bejewelled models for women.
Sized at 38.5mm for feminine wrists, the white gold Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon combines haute horlogerie with haute joaillerie.
The 143-year-old maison showcases its gemsetting savoire-faire in the stunning dial featuring an openwork snowflake-shaped barrel under faceted pyramids recalling icicles, and a flying tourbillon escapement sparkling with precious stones while compensating for the effect of gravity in enhancing the watch’s accuracy.
White lacquered decorations further refine the aesthetics, which evokes winter in the Vallée de Joux.
Powered by Calibre 2951, two versions are set with either brilliant-cut or baguette-cut diamonds, the latter’s invisible setting requiring over an hour to position each of the 120 stones cut into 48 different sizes, to perfectly match the curves of the Royal Oak Concept case.
The unmistakable case with an octagonal bezel and exposed hexagonal screws was originally made from stainless steel to house the Royal Oak launched in 1972.
Audemars Piguet approached Gérald Genta to design the luxury sports model and stainless steel served as a tough armour to protect the movement. The ground-breaking Royal Oak also restored demand for mechanical timepieces, which were threatened by the quartz crisis in the 1970s.
To mark the 30th anniversary of its iconic watch, the Swiss brand introduced the Royal Oak Concept as a one-off model, inspired by concept cars, in 2002.
Besides new case and movement materials, the watch also displayed numerous innovations such as a dynamograph, which indicates tension in the mainspring so as to optimally maintain its function.
From single pieces, the Royal Oak Concept evolved into limited editions and an extensive collection boasting sophisticated mechanisms.
The Laptimer, for instance, is the first mechanical chronograph measuring and recording an extended series of consecutive lap time; and the Supersonnerie, a radical rethink of wristwatch repeaters.
The gravity-defying complication has also been incorporated into the new titanium Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT, spinning at 9 o’clock and opposing a second time-zone indicator.
While remaining at 6 o’clock like in the original, the crown position indicator has been redesigned as a disc instead of being represented by a hand, to accommodate the new movement aesthetics.
For a more faceted architecture, the dial is made of sandblasted titanium and applied pink gold-toned inserts, whereas central bridges, formerly made of ceramic, have been replaced with black titanium bridges with the same colour accent on polished angles.
A black ceramic bezel then lends a contemporary frame to the asymmetric dial design. Matched with a black rubber strap, this dark 44mm model is driven by the hand-wound Calibre 2954.
This year, Audemars Piguet also introduced a trio of red, white and blue timepieces, as the first selfwinding members of this watch family.
The sporty 44mm Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked Selfwinding comes in a sandblasted titanium case, whose back displays the Calibre 2949 with a peripheral oscillating weight in platinum.
On the face of the blue version, white gold hands circle the openworked dial with a black 30-minute counter located at 3 o’clock. The black inner bezel is accented by blue transfers, with the strap in matching colour for a cool rendition of the avant-garde Royal Oak Concept.