Fourteen watches for history

In 2025, the heads of Audemars Piguet are still looking to the future, but they are keeping an eye on the watchmaker’s archives as it turns 150 years old, which is soon to be said. It is time to look back on the pieces that have marked a before and after in the successful history of this independent Swiss company.

1886

Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in the village of Le Brassus in Switzerland’s remote Vallée de Joux by 24-year-old Jules Louis Audemars and his partner, neighbour and friend Edward Auguste Piguet, also from a family of watchmakers. The two began marketing unique and intricate pocket watches such as this one with minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph and calendar from 1886.

1899

The company delivered a pocket watch nicknamed Universelle, one of the most complex of its time, with 19 complications. These included a split-seconds chronograph, a perpetual calendar and an alarm clock with minute display. In 2023, its mechanism was reproduced in miniature in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Universelle RD#4 wristwatch.

1918

High society ladies have to manage in public to see the time without being noticed (the gesture could be considered rude), which is why some high-class watch and jewellery houses create secret watches or watches disguised as jewellery, such as this art deco pendant by Audemars Piguet with a translucent purple enamel case with diamonds, pearl-embellished chain and white silver dial.

1927

The craftsmen of Le Brassus collaborate with case-makers in Geneva and La Chaux-de-Fonds (another nearby town) to explore and combine new watchmaking shapes: cushion, barrel, rectangle, baguette, square…

1947

In 1930, the brand presented its first wristwatch with a chronograph. This one, in steel and rose gold, dates from 1947 and, in addition to the chronograph, includes a full calendar. It is the 5503 model housed in the Pygmalion Gallery in Singapore, one of the most extensive collections of vintage Audemars Piguet watches in the world.

1955

The company’s workshops produced the first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar and leap year display. The model was sold in 1959 to the neighbouring watchmaker Vacheron Constantin.

1959

En esta década, la marca también se convirtió en un referente en la categoría de relojes ultraplanos, como éste apodado Discovolante. En 1953, sólo el 5% de los relojes Audemars Piguet estaban equipados con un calibre ultraplano. En los 10 años siguientes, la cifra aumentó a más del 50% de media, alcanzando un máximo del 77% en 1958.

1972

One of the most coveted models in the world of fine watchmaking, the Royal Oak, conceived by the celebrated designer Gérald Genta, is born. It introduces the concept of a luxury steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet.

1986

This is the first automatic wristwatch with a tourbillon. And with the world’s smallest tourbillon (7.2 mm in diameter).

1987

The Calibre 2120/2800 in this wristwatch was introduced in 1978 as the world’s thinnest self-winding movement with perpetual calendar and central rotor, a title it has held for 40 years.

1993

The Royal Oak’s muscular brother, the Royal Oak Offshore, is born, 42 mm in diameter and 14.5 mm thick. Designed by Emmanuel Gueit, it is characterised by its large size, octagonal bezel, protected pushers and pyramid-based dial motif, known as mega tapestry.

2002

The Royal Oak Concept arrives, in a limited series of 150 pieces that eventually becomes a collection.

2019

The brand is launching the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet line, consisting of round watches with a multi-faceted architecture. The collection is launched with six new calibres and 13 references.

2025

On its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet wanted to ‘give’ its fans a revolutionary new generation of its perpetual calendar movement, with which the ‘all-in-one’ crown is enough to adjust its functions. The upgrade has been introduced on three of the brand’s models: a Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet (pictured) and two Royal Oak models.