KEEPING TIME
How does a watchmaker steeped in heritage and tradition move into the future? With its museum having recently reopened at its Swiss headquarters, Audemars Piguet provides the answer, ironically, in timelessness. By Jen Nurick.
“WE COULD BE looking at an 11th-century Chinese water clock, a seventh-century Islamic automaton, or a fifth century BC front dial – it doesn’t matter,” explains Michael Friedman, head of complications at Audemars Piguet, as he flits between different clocks and historical epochs over the phone. “Wherever you look, objects of time measurement were richly decorated, treated with reverence and respect. That’s an element that distinguishes them from all other works of culture and that’s a fascinating place to begin.” He is in charge of overseeing each timepiece at the Swiss watchmaker as it passes hands from artisan to client, and securing rare acquisitions for its newly reopened exhibition space, the Musée Atelier, in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, the birthplace of both haute horology and the 145-year-old Audemars Piguet.
Though the 300 watches on display at the museum vary, commonalities beyond the reverence Friedman speaks of connect each through the ages. Every case is hand-finished by traditional artisans – be it a historical timepiece, like the Royal Oak, created in 1971, or the Code 11.59, launched in 2019. Both house icons, one signifies a timeless classic, while the other points to Audemars Piguet’s modern vision, but these can coalesce. Take the face of the Millenary Hand-Wound (pictured) with an alligator strap, pink-gold hands and diamond-set bezel, it evokes a vintage feel, but is intended to be worn now.
This sense of continuity is what Audemars Piguet has set out to convey at the newly completed museum, a seven-year project built in the Le Brassus village. A spiral-shaped pavilion, connected to the company’s oldest building, sits with nature, underscoring the company’s storied link to the land. “Watchmaking evolved here because you had the metallurgical reality to do so; to be able to extract the iron ore from the mountains, to create forges due to the forest,” Friedman explains, referencing the abundance of firewood in the region, used to fuel wood-fired ovens that heat metals, to be transformed into watch parts.
This storytelling is the way the watchmaker showcases longterm innovations. It is also important for clients, who are investing in a timepiece with hopes of passing it down, and looking to the brand’s track record in creating collector’s pieces. “Most things created today are meant to be upgraded, replaced or thrown away,” says Friedman, recognising his role as temporary guardian of a fourth-generation family legacy. “We consciously create objects of permanence in this era of obsolescence, which is very unusual in 2020.”
But the new still has a role to play. Audemars Piguet’s 2016 collaboration with Italian jeweller Carolina Bucci, who redesigned a limited edition Royal Oak, stands out to Friedman as a timeless investment. Using an ancient hammering technique, Bucci stamped gold to achieve a frosted, diamond-like effect, borrowing from the past to appeal to modern women. “There’s a liberty that technology allows us, but never at the expense of the hand-finishers, the traditional techniques and methods,” Friedman says.
That’s why artisans work alongside technicians in an adjoining workshop in the museum for guests to observe. This proximity between analog and digital craft reifies an understanding of luxury that feels pertinent now – where value is rooted in human touch. “Modern luxury is clarity, transparency, honesty,” says Friedman. “Young people are looking at the ethos of a company as part of their commitment [to a] luxury brand … They want to know: what nonprofit projects they do? What are the craftspeople like? Can I visit the factory?”
While Covid-19 has limited travel, Friedman is confident a feeling of intimacy with the watches on display can be fostered online – or in store – with plans to develop virtual museum experiences. For Sébastian Vivas, heritage and museum director, it’s another opportunity to integrate technology and newness in unexpected ways. “The old way of thinking was new at a certain moment. It means innovation and forward-thinking have always been there [in Audemars Piguet’s history],” he says. “They are transformed into tradition at a certain moment when they are replaced by new ways to think.” The same applies for a treasured timepiece: when passed down, its owners inherit old stories that combine with new ones, so that in the future, their watch might become worthy of exhibition.