Caribbean Gemological Institute

Audemars Piguet

 

Perhaps one of the best loved of Sports watches, Piguet is also enjoyed by those who can appreciate precision and fine lines. 

Audemars Piguet began in 1875 when Jules Audemars, then 23, and Edward-August Piguet, 21, met in the Valle de Jous looking for jobs in the local watchmaking industry. Audemars was the watchmaker in charge of production, and Piguet took charge of sales and marketing. Successful from the beginning, the Audemars Piguet trademark was registered in 1882, and the firm was officially founded later in 1889. Today, Audemars Piguet is the oldest Manufacture still owned and operated by its founding families.

In 1972, the company made the daring choice to launch the world's first high-end sports watches in steel: the Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet's history is marked with many landmark records and world firsts-- the first wristwatch with tourbillon and mechanical winding, the smallest self-winding watch with perpetual calendar, the Dual Time, the Ladies Minute Repeater Chiming watch, to name a few.

In addition, only Audemars Piguet makes and sells all twelve of these complex timepieces--Chronographs, tourbillon regulators, chiming repeaters, time-zone displays, the Star Wheel mechanism, the equation of time and the sun's race through the heavens, a large-date calendar, power-reserve and moon-phase indicators, annual and perpetual calendars, and the intricate Grande Complication designs.

Today, along with Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet is considered to be one of the "big three" as one of the finest watches in the world. Adding to its exclusivity is Audemars Piguet's limited production of about 17,000 watches per year.


Audemars Piguet timeline

Year Event
1889 Grande Complication watch with minute repeater, split seconds chronograph and perpetual calendar is unveiled.
1892 First wristwatch with minute repeater is presented.
1972 Royal Oak is introduced.
1978 First ultra-thin automatic wristwatch with perpetual calendar is introduced.
1986 First ultra-thin automatic wristwatch with tourbillion is introduced.
1990 Dual Time watch is launched. It is the first single movement watch to display two time zones.
1996 Grande Complication automatic wristwatch is introduced

 

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