Celebrity Life

Audemars Piguet is about to open its glass doors of the brand's spiral museum to the public this June. Visitors will be able to take on a narrative journey through the world-renowned horologist's 139-year history.

Established as an extension to the Swiss watchmaker’s headquarters in Le Brassus near Le Chenit, the new watch museum located at the Vallée de Joux currently houses a collection that spans over two centuries and consists of more than 300 timepieces.

Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet's recognisable spiralling glass pavilion design conceived by Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to complement the company’s oldest building where Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet set their workshop in 1875. The two sloping spirals that coil around themselves like a watch spring is meant to symbolise the blend of tradition and forward-thinking at the heart of Audemars Piguet’s craftsmanship while honouring its deep-rooted origins.

[inline-quote author="Jasmine Audemars, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Audemars Piguet"]"We wanted visitors to experience our heritage, savoir-faire, cultural origins and openness to the world in a building that would reflect both our rootedness and forward-thinking spirit, but, before all, we wanted to pay tribute to the watchmakers and craftspeople who have made what Audemars Piguet is today, generation after generation."[/inline-quote]

Experience The Savoir-faire

Thanks to German museum designer Atelier Brückner reimagining the exhibition’s composition as a musical score, visitors will get to experience a diverse showcase of the manufacture’s complicated masterpieces. A long list of astronomical, chiming and chronograph complications that are at the heart of Audemars Piguet watchmaking are arrayed around the ultra-complicated Universelle pocket watch from 1899. Closing the exhibition is a display of Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore and Royal Oak Concept timepieces.

Complementing the complicated timepieces exhibitions are two specialized ateliers located at the heart of the spiral. The first is dedicated to the Grandes Complications, where each watch—which are composed of more than 648 components—spends from six to eight months in the hands of a single watchmaker before leaving the workshop. The second atelier hosts the Métiers d’Art which showcases the works of highly skilled jewellers, gem-setters and engravers.

Visitors to Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet are also able to have a go at some of the ancestral techniques perpetuated by Audemars Piguet’s finishing experts, such as satin brushing and circular graining. Furthering the company’s cultural and artistic engagement, the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet will also be a fitting exhibition venue for some of the traveling artworks created by the manufacture’s commissioned artists.

In Celebration Of The Musée Atelier

For the opening of its Musée Atelier, Audemars Piguet will exhibit commissioned artworks by long-lasting friends of the brand. These artworks are show creative interpretations of Audemars Piguet’s origins in the Vallée de Joux by Dan Holdsworth, Quayola and Alexandre Joly. Holdsworth’s photograph “Vallée de Joux n° 10” from his photographic series "The Vallée de Joux" along with Quayola’s “Remains #A_027” from "Remains: Vallée de Joux" are complemented by a multimedia installation by Alexandre Joly.

Last but not least, the Swiss watchmaker will also be presenting a new take on one of its exceedingly rare vintage chronograph wristwatches from 1943, dubbed the [Re]master01. It brings back all of the design attributes of the original chronograph, featuring a round stainless steel case and teardrop lugs enhanced by an 18K pink gold bezel, crown and pushers. The gold-toned dial is complemented with a blue tachymetric scale, pink gold hour, minutes and seconds hands along with blue chronograph hands. The watch comes with a light brown hand-stitched calfskin strap as well as an additional brown alligator strap.

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Since its inception back in 1875, Audemars Piguet has made watches with unmatched quality and crafted them by hand until the mid-20th century. Taking a look at the [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph, the timepiece incorporates classic aesthetics fused with a modern touch. The timepiece sees influences of the Ref 1533, in a statement by Audemars Piguet‘s head of complications, Michael Friedman, he states that the watch “is a contemporary remastering of one of our past creations”.

Adorned with a medley of archival references from the ‘40s, Audemars Piguet’s novelty, the [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is a contemporary homage to the aesthetics of the decade best remembered for the ill-fated horrors brought upon by World War II. Preceded by the Art Deco movement and the gradual discontinuation of the mono-pusher chronograph, the watches of the ‘40s were often born out of necessity as military supplies. Naturally, the chronograph with its utilitarian ability to measure time and speed became increasingly popular.

However, not all were created for the war. There were those that were created for the sake of a spiritual escape. Audemars Piguet’s Ref 1533 of which the [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is based on was one of such rare examples. Among the most sought-after, the manufacture’s vintage chronographs are scarcely found, with only 307 units produced between the ‘30s and ‘50s. At the time, Audemars Piguet was not a series watch producer that it is presently, counting 40,000 pieces as its annual production. Prior to 1951, every watch sold was a unique piece, which explains the reason information of these watches is hard to come by and more often than not, accompanied by beguiling tales of past owners.

[caption id="attachment_199440" align="alignnone" width="768"] Audemars Piguet [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph. (Photo: Audemars Piguet)[/caption]During World War II, when the Ref 1533 was made, chronograph wristwatches accounted for a little under one-tenth of the manufacture’s total output volume. The Ref 1533, in particular, was one of three chronograph wristwatches boasting such stainless steel and gold case design. The 36mm dual-tone case was considered larger than average especially when its peers were measuring between 31mm and 34mm.

[inline-quote author="Michael Friedman, Audemars Piguet’s head of complications reveals their collective decision to recapture the spirits of the Ref 1533"]"There were many inspiring watches within our heritage collection that could have been the basis for this remastering project. The entire team unanimously decided on this chronograph wristwatch because of the specific aesthetic and emotional connections we all felt for this echo of the past."[/inline-quote]

The new flyback chronograph features a round case and teardrop-like lugs in stainless steel, enhanced by a bezel, olive-shaped pushers and chamfered crown in 18k pink gold, not unlike that of the Ref 1533. The hand-polished case is further complemented by a satin-brushed gold-toned dial enriched with black transferred hour-markers, pink gold hour, minute and seconds hands, blue chronograph hands and a blue transferred tachymetre scale. On the contrary, the Ref 1533 houses a champagne dial – a colour no doubt will prove popular if Audemars Piguet chooses to pursue this option somewhere down the road.

[caption id="attachment_199441" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Audemars Piguet's in-house 4409 automatic movement. (Photo: Audemars Piguet)[/caption]

Furthermore, the new watch has inherited the Ref 1533’s 4/5 indication, which sits above the 15-minute marker inside the 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock, allowing the wearer to record up to 45 minutes. This idiosyncrasy can be attributed to Audemars Piguet’s third-generation family-founder Jacques-Louis Audemars (1910-2003), whose favourite sport was football and the 45th minute points towards half-time.

While the dial design such as the Art Deco-inspired fonts and the signature Audemars Piguet & Co Genève has been retained, the layout of the sub-dials has been altered and the case enlarged to 40mm to improve legibility, as well as to house an automatic in-house integrated chronograph movement with column wheel, flyback function and 70 hours of power reserve.

The calibre 4409 is revealed through a transparent caseback – unlike the Ref 1533 which has a closed caseback. The movement is fitted with a 22k pink gold rotor with a Clous de Paris motif. Paired with a light-brown hand-stitched calfskin strap to accentuate the soft, elegant colours of the watch, the [Re]master01 Selfwinding Chronograph is also shipped with an additional dark brown alligator strap for a stately presence and limited to 500 pieces.

[inline_related_article article_id="128450"]

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