Audemars Piguet History
The History of Audemars Piguet
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IndexThe History of Audemars Piguet
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Audemars Piguet History
Audemars Piguet long history dates back to 1875 when a then 23 year old Jules Audemars joined forces with a 21 year old Edward Piguet, also a trained watchmaker, both of them having learned their trade after finishing public school in their hometown of Le Brassus. At the time, Jules was fabricating complicated "ebouches" (blank watch movements, to be finished and fitted by a watch manufacturer) from a workshop he had set up at his parents farm, while Edward was working as a self employed "repasseur" (a master watchmaker who performs the final regulation on a watch). Thanks to orders pouring in from Geneva Audemars was forced to engage more watchmakers, one of whom was Edward Piguet, whom he knew from schooldays. Soon after, they decided to cease to work as suppliers to established firms and instead manufacture and market the complicated watches that were their mutual passion. Audemars, Piguet & Cie was thus born. Almost from the beginning, Audemars was in charge of production and the technical side, while his partner Piguet focused on sales and management. This formula worked so well that it was maintained after the death of the founders: prime responsibility for technical matters lay with members of the Audemars family, while commercial affairs were in the hands of the Piguet family. Audemars Piguet is the oldest watch manufacturer still owned by the founding family. A member of the Audemars or Piguet families has always sat at the board of directors since the company's birth in 1882 and, thus, directly contributed to the destiny of the company. Audemars Piguet's watchmaking history timeline:
1899
1915
1921
1946
1955
1972
1986
1989
1993
1994
1995
2000
2002
2004
2005
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Audemars Piguet Models
SPORTS COLLECTIONBy introducing in 1972 the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, first luxury sports watch in stainless steel, the manifattura forever shifted the parameters by which Haute Horlogerie is measured. Since then, the great history of this watch, combination of audacity, craftmanship and experience, keeps going forward with new interpretations of the classic, using revolutionary new materials like carbon, titanium or alacrite, and with the introduction of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Off Shore venturing into extreme sports. For it's 30th anniversary in 2002 the Royal Oak collection was augmented with the Royal Oak Offshore Concept, a watch that pushes the limit of innovation. In 2004, Audemars Piguet created the Lady Royal Oak, worthy companion of the legendary octagon. |
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CLASSIC COLLECTIONFrom the elegance of an ultra flat watch, to the poetry of a minute repeater, from the ingenuity of a tourbillon to the sofistication of a perpetual calendar or even to the precision of a chronograph... all of these traced back to the names of two precursors of modern Haute Orlogerie and founders of one of the oldest and most prestigious watch brands in the world, these complications can be found in the lines Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet. |
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TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE COLLECTIONSince 1999, Audemars Piguet has slowly been creating the first five of a total of eight masterpieces, limited to twenty pieces each, that constitute the Tradition of Excellence collection. Each one of these watches has pushed the watchmaking art to new frontiers, using cutting edge technology and creativity. The latest on the collection, Cabinet #5 features a Millenary case in Platinum , a linear read perpetual calendar and a brand new high performance escapement that requires no lubrication. |
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CONTEMPORARY COLLECTIONFor the beggining of the third millenium, Millenary reinvented class, by proposing a variation on a pure oval inspired by one of mankind masterpieces: the Roman Coliseum. The Millenary for lady, stunning for their grace and soft lines, represent the dream of the urban woman, always concerned with her originality. In it's Haute Jewellery versions, zapphires and diamonds adorn this watches with insurpasable elegance. |
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LADIES COLLECTION2004 was the Femmes du Monde year at Audemars Piguet, and it proved to be a great one, with several new lines introduced. The square is reinvented by the Deva, and enhanced by sapphires and vivid colors in the Myriade, while the Danae conceals the secret of time beneath its cover. A longtime ladies classic, the Promesse line is now expanded with several new versions: a large in stainless steel with laquered dial and a whole variety of diamond motifs on the mini. |
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Audemars Piguet case dating and identification
Model identificationEvery Audemars Piguet watch has a movement number engraved on the mainplate, generally next to the balance, and a case number which is engraved on the outside of the case-back. In the example picture: Number 25 is the sequential number of these particular model/reference. D67746 is the case number, sequential across all watches manufactured by Audemars Piguet. There is no certain way to tell the age of an Audemars Piguet , but certain estimates can be made with the case number: there are 100,000 watches with the same letter, and AP manufactures 20,000 watches a year (VERY aproximately) so that the letter of the serial number changes aproximately every 5 years. A known fact is that production of the F series started sometime in 2004. In the example watch with case number D67746: D started in 1994, plus 1 year per 20,000 on the case number will make this watch a 1997-98. |