Michael Schumacher is honoured by Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet has launched its new timepiece – the Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher that is deemed as a world premiere in mechanical watches
Against the backdrop of a low sun setting for the evening, the Corinna Schumacher’s ranch in Givrins, Switzerland, became alive with the excited chatter of a number of guests that turned out in support of the legendary racing-driver. For the first time in the family owned Manufacture’s history has a new movement been created for one of its brand ambassadors.
The new Royal Oak Concept Laptimer has been crafted to honour the F1 Legend Michael Schumacher, and was launched on the 22nd of May, 2015 at a private event at where guests were welcomed to a seated dinner by François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, and Sabine Kehm, Michael Schumacher’s agent and long-time friend.
After the tailor-made dinner, guests were able to discover and handle the timepiece imagined by the legendary F1 World Champion. Back in 2010, Audemars Piguet’s ambassador, Michael Schumacher, posed a simple question to the Manufacture’s engineers: would it be possible to create a mechanical wrist watch designed specifically for use in motorsport which would measure and record an extended series of consecutive lap times?
It was a horological challenge that had never been met in a mechanical watch before, and after almost five years of research and development, Audemars Piguet have answered that question with the first motorsport-specific watch to feature a complication with two angular indexing systems on a single chronograph, each with an independent memory.
The chronograph features two central hands which can be controlled independently via three push pieces – the first located at the conventional two o’clock position to start and stop the chronograph; the second positioned at the four o’clock marker to re-set the chronograph; and the all-important third push piece is placed at the nine o’clock position. It is this third button that makes it possible to simultaneously stop either of the two chronograph hands, while returning the other hand to zero and restarting it – meaning that, while the time of the most recent lap is being noted down, timing of the next lap is already underway. The watch therefore negates the need for two or more hand-held timing devices, streamlining the operation within a single wrist chronograph.
It is the second Audemars Piguet chronograph to carry the name of the celebrated driver, and in honour of his extraordinary adrenaline-fuelled career, the Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher will be made available in a limited edition of 221 pieces that pays tribute to the number one racing driver of the F1 World Championship.
