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Audemars Piguet - Movements After receiving an introduction on the brand's and the Vallee de Joux's history, we proceeded to visit the design department, where both the new watches and movements are conceived. This was the only area where we were asked not to take any photographs and where questions were occasionally answered with a polite smile. Just about all the work in these offices is done on computers so we did manage to sneak a glimpse of what may become a new model in the future. I was interested to know how a new project was usually started. Did management request them to come up with something within specific parameters or did they initiate a new design and then present it to management ? The answer was that it worked in both ways and that finalizing a new model was sometimes a process that could take ages and go back and forth through dozens of very subtle permutations until everybody involved was totally satisfied. We of course also tried very hard to get some juicy details on the new automatic movement AP is currently developing. Mr. Wehrli was naturally a bit tight-lipped while answering these questions but I'm convinced that it will be a very high-grade construction which in all likeliness will include some finer elements like a balance bridge or a free-sprung balance. This area had the look of a fairly typical office layout, with partitions separating each person’s work area. However, a quick look at the computer terminals and it was clear that this was not just another set of workstations. For those screens had CAD drawings of Offshores, and other Royal Oaks. After some introductions, we noticed some designs for a new, ultra-complicated movement. I was (along with Mr Wehrli and the design engineers, I suspect) astounded when Jeff quickly identified what the complications housed in this movement. I looked at the design, and it was totally indecipherable. How did he do it? (It wasn’t until later that I realised I was looking at a different picture – I was looking at a cross section of the movement, and would have been amazed beyond belief if Jeff were able to identify the complications based on a cross section diagram!). A room full of computers with watches and movements on their screens is a good room in my book but if just about everybody inside that room is wearing a Royal Oak, it gets even better. Our tour came to a complete standstill when I spotted a very special one on the wrist of one of the designers. A unique "End Of Days" Offshore with a custom-made black PVD-coated bracelet ! Kevin and I tried everything from begging to bribery to make the gentleman part with his watch, alas to no avail. But he was so gracious to let us wear it and take a few snapshots. In my excitement I momentarily forgot the "no-pictures" rule which was still in effect and - shame on me - didn't notice the movement plans that were spread out on a table just next to us. Thankfully Mr. Wehrli recognized the innocence of my mission but was amused that the fledgling journalist had missed the scoop lying next to him.
Being the Offshore fans that we are, it didn’t take long for me and Hans to notice that one of the design engineers was wearing a most unusual Offshore chronograph: it was a one-off,
anodized steel version. Ignoring the technologically more interesting discussion (which had captivated Jeff), Hans and I made a bee-line towards this person, who must have wondered what the heck two grown men were doing, drooling over his watch. It looked fantastic, and was black all over (including the case back). I just had to try it on. After assuring Mr Wehrli that we only wanted to take a picture of it and not of their secret designs, Hans snapped away. The above picture shows the black beast adorning my wrist. The Offshore on the left is mine and, if I had had my way, the one on the right would have been mine too. I think the design engineers had a good chuckle amongst themselves, but I didn’t care. We were in one giant candy store and we were determined to enjoy ourselves. In the real world, the black Offshore would have been horribly impractical. The Offshore is a scratch-magnet, and the black version would have scratched beyond belief. No distinguished patinas here. Think random two-tone black and steel. Of course it’s not a problem if you happen to work at Audemars, and can simply get one of your colleagues to fix your watch whenever you desire. Little
known is Audemars’ pioneering role in the development of
wristwatch tourbillons. The
ultimate pioneer in tourbillons is, of course, Abraham Louis Breguet who
invented them. For pocket
watches. More than a century
passed from his invention until someone tried to develop a tourbillon for wrist
watches, and that was work undertaken by Audemars.
Historical footnote: from
1860 until 1980 only 650 tourbillons (all of course for pocket watches) were
produced world-wide for all brands combined!
Put that figure up against total production of 2892’s. The
first wrist watch tourbillon, which debuted in 1986, is housed in the Audemars
museum.
Although aesthetically somewhat controversial, the watch stands as an engineering tour de force. Not only did it mark the first time a tourbillon had been shrunk to the dimensions of a wrist watch—“Honey I shrunk the Tourbillon”—but as well represented the first time that the back of the case was used as the main plate of the watch. Walt Odets has done a brilliant analysis of this unusual watch in The Audemars Piguet Caliber 2870 I have a somewhat different view of the aesthetics of this watch. For me, seeing it was the completion of a horological journey that started back in the eighties, when I saw this watch featured in a magazine advertisement. While not conventional in design, I was (and still am) blown away by the bold and unusual design. How often do you get to see a watch whose case back doubles up as a movement plate, has a tourbillon and a hammer wind system to boot? I remember asking Mr Wehrli why all automatic Audemars tourbillons employed the hammer winding system and, if memory serves me correctly, it is to do with visuals: there is no rotor to obscure the view through a display back. While this sounded like a reasonable explanation, I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t simply employ a sapphire crystal rotor, which to me, is the perfect solution. I know this can be done, since watches with this feature already exist and are available. Still, this automatic tourbillon, the world’s first wristwatch automatic tourbillon, was one fine piece. It deserves its place in watchmaking history.
Various movement parts with their allotted jewels
This
movement was absolutely incredible.
It was enormous, and looked impossibly complicated.
The real surprise came, however, when we were shown the dial.
With a number of sub-dials, it looked complicated all right, but the name
was what stood out: Union Glashutte.
Union Glashütte?
Weren’t they the subsiduary brand of Glashütte Original ?
Whatever the story was, this was one fantastic piece.
We were shown a number of other complicated pocket watch movements (many
of which were equipped with equation of time mechanisms) and each one was a true
work of art.
My only regret was not seeing a movement with sidereal time: this is
something I’ve only seen in pictures (in fact, Audemars’s catalogue shows
one made for, and signed, Smith & Sons of London) and it would have been
great to see one in person.
Maybe next time !
A drawer with movement parts
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