Ladies watches bloom at the Audemars Piguet 2016 collections

Audemars Piguet 2016 collections

Renowned for creating complicated movements, the Audemars Piguet Manufacture keeps on pushing the watchmaking engineering and craft into ever more daring expressions of contemporary design that are evident in its new breed of collections for the year 2016 specifically in its set of novelties that attract the sophisticated female connoisseurs

Since its inception in 1875, Audemars Piguet has maintained its six indispensable values inculcated by its illustrious founders, Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet.

These values – respect, integrity, exclusivity, inspiration, passion and sophistication – have guided the family-owned watchmaking company in cultivating excellence through its craft, complications and artisans, and therefore have led to the establishment of Savoir-Faire that is unique to this timeless and charismatic brand.

This year, Audemars Piguet merges avant-garde technology with over 140 years of savoir-faire, which results to the introduction of its new fascinating timepieces that come from its series of “Icons & Legends” and “Stars & Heroes”.

Millenary

Hailing from the “Icons & Legends” collection, the Millenary pieces are combination of horological benchmarks and contemporary works of art. Inspired by the Millenary collection that was created two years ago, Audemars Piguet brings two new stunning and original designs powered by the clever in-house back-to-front 5205 and 5206 movements. The Millenary features onyx and diamonds, gold and pearls that are geometrically defined to create graphic dial patterns that created a bold effect on the classic accents.

This new graphic women’s design featuring diamonds and onyx inter-layered in a hypnotic relief is revealed as a bold expression of precision craft. Classic techniques are abstracted to new effect: the Millenary’s zebra-like stripes come to life in brilliant-cut diamonds and velvet-black onyx.

The design is all the more remarkable because the balance wheel and bridge are an integral part of the decoration: A technical challenge that reminds us how Audemars Piguet’s gem-setters and horological engineers work side-by-side, developing an unparalleled understanding of related crafts.

Audemars Piguet underlines its contemporary approach to Haute Joaillerie, transporting pearls – the all-time classic jewel – into a new horological realm. Over a century ago, seed pearls were used to decorate watch cases. In 2016, an avant-garde re-think of traditional decorative techniques sees pearls light up the Millenary dial like little electric studs, creating a magnetic geometric weave against the gleaming black onyx.

This original timepiece required the special skills of a traditional jewellery workshop. Even before creation could begin, Audemars Piguet expert jewellers hand-picked each pearl for perfect roundness and size (1 mm diameter), and then set them with exceptional precision. The unique oval dial of the Millenary becomes a new canvas for pearls.

Royal Oak Dual Time

Meanwhile, after more than two decades since the launch of its first Dual Time design in 1990, Audemars Piguet launches this year, under the “Icons & Legends” collection, its new Royal Oak Dual Time for women.

The silver-toned dial featuring two time zones is elevated with a power reserve sub-dial, a “Grande Tapisserie” pattern, grey printed markers and pink gold hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.

Readability of the dual time and 38-hour power reserve features are enhanced together with additional functions such as hours, minutes, centre seconds, date, and day and night indicator.

This 39mm watch comes in a stainless steel case with glare-proofed sapphire crystal, and is water-resistant to 50 metres. Also, it features a white leather alligator strap that is available in an extra small fit to add a fresh look to this contemporary complication.

Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph

Another remarkable timepiece that is catering to the female connoisseurs is the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph under the “Icons & Legends” collection. This timepiece that functions as chronograph, hours, minutes, small seconds and date gets its power from the self-winding Manufacture calibre 2385 that ensures the power reserve of around 40 hours.

Originally created in 1993 with tough case, strong-look pushpieces and chronograph function meant to capture the masculine, this year’s version of the timepiece flaunts a new silver-toned dial with “Grande Tapisserie” pattern or a black dial with “Lady Tapisserie” that give its dial a softer look, perfectly offsetting the 37mm case size. The dial is further enhanced with its circular-grained external zone as well as its pink or white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.

Available in two versions, the diamond-set bezels, crowns and pushpieces (previously made in rubber) are now sleeker in stainless steel or 18-carat pink gold case. A choice of interchangeable strap colours has been created and slender indices replace the sporty Arabic numerals and cabochons of previous designs.

Audemars Piguet Diamond Fury

In 2016, under its “Stars & Legends” collections, an interesting suite of horological developments highlights the disruptive ideas, independent attitude and savoir-faire that set Audemars Piguet apart as a dynamic force in watchmaking today. The Manufacture’s different thinking is illuminated in a series of designs that break the rules of horological tradition.

This spirit of rebellion starts off with the unveiling of the Diamond Fury – an Haute Joaillerie masterpiece bristling with attitude. Diamond Fury is like a carapace of gems with a shield of brilliant-cut diamonds: A true Haute Joaillerie talisman. Audemars Piguet’s expert designers and jewellers have perfected the underside of Diamond Fury’s jewelled scales with the same care as its enigmatic outer shell. Yet, its naturally tough form is precision-armoured to protect a sensual side and deftly engineered to slink around the wrist.

Born as the mighty warrior sister of last year’s Diamond Punk, this new timepiece is engineered in diamonds and white gold (with or without additional onyx elements). Diamond Fury’s mysterious character is revealed via a secret panel which, when touched, subtly unclips to reveal the diamond-paved 18-carat white gold dial and blackened gold hands beneath.

Powered by the Quartz calibre 2601, this remarkable timepiece that provides hours and minutes is enveloped by the 40mm x 30mm 18-carat white gold case entirely set with the brilliant-cut diamonds and finished with an 18-carat white gold bracelet, entirely set with diamonds.

Crafted with unique skill, this masterpiece is a dynamic coming together of the designers, engineers and jewellers of Le Brassus. It took passion, perfection, over 1,500 hours and 4,635 brilliant-cut diamonds for the full diamond version featured here to emerge as a fusion of the singular character, unconventional thinking and cutting-edge technology that define Audemars Piguet today.