Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, in the Vallée de Joux, by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet. The manufacture remains independent and still works from the valley that shaped it, a setting that keeps haute horlogerie, hand finishing and a certain Jura reserve close together.

In 1972 the Royal Oak arrived with an octagonal bezel and an integrated bracelet, designed by Gérald Genta — a watch that reset expectations for what a luxury sports piece could look like. The Royal Oak Offshore followed in 1993 with a broader, more assertive presence, while Code 11.59, introduced in 2019, gave the house a contemporary round-case platform.

Across these lines the emphasis falls on movement architecture and finishing as much as on form: openworked calibres, contrasting surfaces and cases assembled with a jeweller's attention to edges and angles.