Bazzar India 1

AUDEMARS PIGUET

It was 1875, in the idyllic village

of Le Brassus, Switzerland, when two

friends, Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste

Piguet, decided to build on their love and skill for watchmaking,

and founded what has come to be one of the most respected and

innovative watch brands in the world.

Within a few years of the company’s inception, the duo had successfully

established themselves as pioneers in the industry, creating a steady stream of

world-irst launches, both in terms of record-breaking extra-thin models and the

miniaturisation of complex mechanisms.

The irst was a Repeater wristwatch in 1892, which would audibly chime the time at

the press of a button—a feat in an era when electricity was scarce—followed by the world’s

thinnest pocket-watch caliber in 1921, measuring at just 1.32 mm.

However, global politics soon had an impact on the world of haute horology, and in 1932 the

company created only two pocket watches. Explains Jonathan King, chief executive ocer of

South East Asia: “It meant two world wars, the Great Depression, the almost overnight switch

from pocket watches to wristwatches, and surviving the quartz crisis of the ’60s and ’70s,

which brought the Swiss watch industry to its knees.”

In 1971, designer Gerald Genta was tasked with designing a sports watch for all

occasions. Within 24 hours, Genta conceptualised what has come to be

one of the world’s most recognisable watches: The Royal Oak.

The timepiece, inspired by a traditional diver’s helmet

with its octagonal bezel and hexagonal gold screws,

caused a stir amongst collectors when it was

eventually launched in 1972 for its hefty

price tag of 3,300 Swiss Francs.

Although it took more than

a year for the House

to sell the

irst 1,000 pieces,

the allure and quality of the

design eventually could not be negated,

and today it stands as the brand’s best-selling

models, spawning many variations, including new

technical solutions and complications, and featuring

precious metals, as well as leather and rubber straps.

Today, the brand has six collections. There’s, of course,

the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Ofshore, released in 1993 as

a sportier example of its forerunner with its oversized case. In 1995,

the brand launched Millinary, distinctive for its oval shape and

three-dimensional movements that created speciically created for it.

The brand also ofers the Jules Audemars, a tribute to its founder,

Tradition watches, a recreation of some of the House’s most

emblematic creations, and Classic Pocket Watches, as a reminder

of the past. “People may look to Audemars Piguet and see

the Royal Oak, but they forget that there was 103 years

before, which we had illed with beautiful things, and

we want to remind people of that,” adds King.

As for what’s next for the House, only

time will tell. ■

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By Sitara Mulchandani

SEE WHERE TO BUY FOR DETAILS

(Clockwise from top)

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Concept Supersonnerie;

Miniature Minute Repeater

Pendant Watch from the

Heritage Collection, inv. 1437;

details of the chiming

technology of the Royal Oak

Supersonnerie; Jules Louis

Audemars and Edward

Auguste Piguet. All prices

upon request.