Moments in time
Audemars Piguet’s Millenary watches for women combine traditional craftsmanship and contemporary style
In many ways, watchmaking and fashion are very different endeavours. For all the skill and attention to detail inherent in the best examples of each, fashion is, by its nature, cyclical; haute horologie, on the other hand, is designed and crafted to last beyond a lifetime. There are moments, however, when the skills and aesthetics of both come together to stunning effect.
Audemars Piguet – the last Swiss watch brand to remain in the hands of its founding families – has been mastering this delicate fusion from the Vallée de Joux in the heart of the Swiss Jura mountains since 1875. Over more than 130 years, its elegant women’s watches have gained a deserved reputation for marrying the finest engineering with contemporary, feminine design.
The Millenary Ladies collection – launched in 2015 – is a superb case in point. Designed from the inside out, it exposes the intricacies of the inner workings of its delicate hand-wound movement in a design that draws on the entire legacy of Audemars Piguet’s women’s watches (the brand has been producing open-work designs from as early as the 1920s, while the Millenary’s striking oval case nods to pieces first crafted in the 1970s). Furthermore, each part of the watch case is decorated and hand-finished using classic techniques, and many styles boast flawless diamond settings.
The newest collection features alligator and ostrich leather straps in sophisticated tones of violet, indigo, pearl anthracite, chocolate leather and countless other original shades. Each one transforms the look of the Millenary, making it ever more versatile and reflecting the multi-layered women who choose to wear it.
Chic and complex, with a strong feminine identity, the Millenary collection now – as ever – picks up the thread that runs through the history of Audemars Piguet’s women’s designs, fusing the finest style and skill in a piece that can be summed up in a single word: timeless. For more information, visit www.audemarspiguet.com.