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The prestigious Swiss manufacture has just unveiled a new model of the Ultra Complication, which offers 40 functions and 23 complications in a small 42 mm case. A horological feat that comes at a price: 2 million euros!
This new year is starting well for Audemars Piguet. The Brassus-based manufacture has just unveiled a catalog of new models that are as exceptional as they are complex. The company has an annual turnover of 2 billion euros and produces 50,000 timepieces per year.
After celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet presented at the end of last week a new exceptional model in the Code 11.59 collection.
What is it called? In its short version, the RD 4 or Ultra Complication, or in its full version, the Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4. This automatic wristwatch is equipped with a more than complex movement of more than 1,100 components, integrated into a contemporary-style case that measures only 42 mm in diameter and 15.5 mm thick. Almost unbelievable for such a technically sophisticated model. Its price is equal to the feat, since it is proposed for the modest sum of … 2 million euros.
This timepiece is a tribute to the Universelle pocket watch, which remains one of the most complex ever created by the watchmaker.
“In 1899, Audemars Piguet was involved in the creation of three ultra-complex calibers, including the famous pocket watch known as the “Universelle”. The year 2023 marks the return of our manufacture to this ultra-exclusive field,” said Sebastian Vivas, Director of Heritage and Museum at Audemars Piguet.
Indeed, this new watch is one of the most complicated models in the world, along with such iconic models as Breguet’s Marie-Antoinette, Patek Philippe’s Supercomplication Henry Graves and Vacheron Constantin’s Cabinotier. According to Audemars Piguet, this watch would even become the most complex in the world, and for good reason. It has a total of 40 functions, including 23 complications such as a Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie, a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar and a flying tourbillon.
The Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4 is thus the combination of the watchmaking expertise of the Manufacture in a single self-winding movement. The engineers and craftsmen who worked on it found a way to make this technical jewel as simple as a basic watch, which is a feat in itself. You don’t have to be a watch expert or read a manual to understand how it works.
How to use it?
Even if the less experienced can use it easily, you still need to master some basics to understand it. To begin with, the watch is equipped with correctors and crown pushers, which can be operated with one finger to activate the functions. The first one, located on the top left, activates the minute repeater. The next two are used to set the moon and date indications. On the right side of the case, three crowns with pushers allow the watch to be wound, the time and date to be set and the ringing mode to be selected.
Among the innovations, the one called Super Crown, allows, first of all, to adjust the current month, synchronized with the year, forward or backward. It is equipped with a mechanism that allows it to return to its initial position after being turned in one direction or the other.
“This piece was the ultimate challenge for our development team,” says Lucas Raggi, R&D Director of the Manufacture. “It required a change in our internal processes so that four people could work on the caliber simultaneously. The level of miniaturization we have achieved represents a new milestone, but also the starting point for our new generation of complicated movements,” he adds.
The setting of the calendar functions has also been simplified. The explanations are complex and specific to the vocabulary of watchmaking, but this simplification has a significant consequence: no manual adjustment will be necessary before the year 2400!
Finally, for the Supersonnerie of this new model (which prevents the absorption of sound and maximizes its amplification), the engineers and watchmakers have designed a double bottom system. It includes a first very thin “secret” one and a second one, called soundboard, entirely made of sapphire. It took three years for this development to be tested and functional. The secret back has several side openings so that air can escape and the sound is amplified when the watch is worn on the wrist.
Once again, Audemars Piguet shows that it has no time to wait and really takes its place behind the scenes.
Read also >Watchmaking: the models that marked 2022
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The prestigious Swiss manufacture has just unveiled a new model of the Ultra Complication, which offers 40 functions and 23 complications in a small 42 mm case. A horological feat that comes at a price: 2 million euros!
This new year is starting well for Audemars Piguet. The Brassus-based manufacture has just unveiled a catalog of new models that are as exceptional as they are complex. The company has an annual turnover of 2 billion euros and produces 50,000 timepieces per year.
After celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet presented at the end of last week a new exceptional model in the Code 11.59 collection.
What is it called? In its short version, the RD 4 or Ultra Complication, or in its full version, the Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4. This automatic wristwatch is equipped with a more than complex movement of more than 1,100 components, integrated into a contemporary-style case that measures only 42 mm in diameter and 15.5 mm thick. Almost unbelievable for such a technically sophisticated model. Its price is equal to the feat, since it is proposed for the modest sum of … 2 million euros.
This timepiece is a tribute to the Universelle pocket watch, which remains one of the most complex ever created by the watchmaker.
“In 1899, Audemars Piguet was involved in the creation of three ultra-complex calibers, including the famous pocket watch known as the “Universelle”. The year 2023 marks the return of our manufacture to this ultra-exclusive field,” said Sebastian Vivas, Director of Heritage and Museum at Audemars Piguet.
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The prestigious Swiss manufacture has just unveiled a new model of the Ultra Complication, which offers 40 functions and 23 complications in a small 42 mm case. A horological feat that comes at a price: 2 million euros!
This new year is starting well for Audemars Piguet. The Brassus-based manufacture has just unveiled a catalog of new models that are as exceptional as they are complex. The company has an annual turnover of 2 billion euros and produces 50,000 timepieces per year.
After celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet presented at the end of last week a new exceptional model in the Code 11.59 collection.
What is it called? In its short version, the RD 4 or Ultra Complication, or in its full version, the Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4. This automatic wristwatch is equipped with a more than complex movement of more than 1,100 components, integrated into a contemporary-style case that measures only 42 mm in diameter and 15.5 mm thick. Almost unbelievable for such a technically sophisticated model. Its price is equal to the feat, since it is proposed for the modest sum of … 2 million euros.
This timepiece is a tribute to the Universelle pocket watch, which remains one of the most complex ever created by the watchmaker.
“In 1899, Audemars Piguet was involved in the creation of three ultra-complex calibers, including the famous pocket watch known as the “Universelle”. The year 2023 marks the return of our manufacture to this ultra-exclusive field,” said Sebastian Vivas, Director of Heritage and Museum at Audemars Piguet.
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