Audemars Piguet

The Vallée de Joux is a long, high valley in the Swiss Jura, snowbound for much of the year. For centuries its farming families spent the winters making watch components at their kitchen tables, and the valley became one of the cradles of complicated watchmaking. Audemars Piguet was born there, and has never left. This guide introduces the house, its icons and the details our specialists look at in a pre-owned Audemars Piguet.

Key facts

Founded	1875, Le Brassus, Vallée de Joux
Founders	Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet
Ownership	Still owned by the founding families
Icons	Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, Royal Oak Concept, Code 11.59, Millenary
Signature details	Octagonal bezel with eight hexagonal screws, Tapisserie dials, integrated bracelets, hand-finished movements
Materials	Steel, 18k gold, platinum, titanium, ceramic, forged carbon

A short history

Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet set up their workshop in Le Brassus in 1875, specialising in complicated movements: minute repeaters, perpetual calendars and chronographs. The house formally registered as Audemars Piguet & Cie in 1881. In the early twentieth century it produced some of the most complex wristwatches of its day, including early minute-repeating wristwatches, and it became known among collectors for its very thin movements.

The defining moment came in 1972. With the watch industry shaken by quartz, Audemars Piguet asked the designer Gérald Genta for something new, and he answered with the Royal Oak: a steel watch with an octagonal bezel held by eight visible screws, a "Tapisserie" dial and a bracelet integrated into the case. It was a luxury watch in steel, finished as carefully as gold, and it took time to find its audience. Once it did, it changed the industry.

The Royal Oak Offshore followed in 1993, larger and bolder. In 2019 the house introduced an entirely new round collection, the Code 11.59.

The watches most often asked about

• Royal Oak: the octagonal steel sports watch of 1972, in time-only, date, chronograph and complicated versions.
• Royal Oak Offshore: a larger, sportier interpretation, often in rubber, ceramic and forged carbon.
• Royal Oak Concept: avant-garde, technical designs.
• Code 11.59: the round collection of 2019, with an octagonal middle case and double-curved crystal.
• Millenary: an oval case with an off-centre dial, now largely discontinued.

The craft

Audemars Piguet's finishing is the quiet heart of the house. Movements are decorated with Côtes de Genève stripes, perlage and hand-bevelled, polished angles. On the Royal Oak, the alternation of brushed and polished surfaces on the case and bracelet is done largely by hand, and it is one of the reasons the watch catches the light the way it does. Dials are often made with a guilloché pattern, Tapisserie, created on traditional machines.

Materials

The house has used steel, gold and platinum throughout its history, and in recent decades has explored titanium, ceramic and forged carbon. Each material changes the character of a watch: steel is crisp and bright, gold warm and weighty, ceramic hard and scratch-resistant, forged carbon light and marbled.

Choosing a pre-owned Audemars Piguet

Begin with the collection. The Royal Oak is the sporting classic; the Offshore is bigger and more assertive; the Code 11.59 is a round dress watch with contemporary detail. Next, consider size. A 37 mm Royal Oak and a 41 mm Royal Oak wear very differently, and Offshore models are larger again. Then think about metal and strap: an integrated steel bracelet, gold, or a leather or rubber strap on the Code 11.59.

Finally, condition and completeness. Because Royal Oak finishing depends on crisp transitions between brushed and polished surfaces, a case that has been heavily or carelessly polished can lose some of its character. Our listings describe case and bracelet finishing as we find them, and set out exactly which box, papers and accessories are included.

What we look at in a pre-owned Audemars Piguet

Our watch specialists examine:

1. Case and bracelet: finishing, the sharpness of edges and the consistency of brushed and polished surfaces.
2. Bezel screws: on the Royal Oak, their alignment and finish.
3. Dial: Tapisserie pattern, printing, markers and hands.
4. Reference and serial: consistent with the case, dial and movement.
5. Movement: calibre, finishing and function.
6. Papers and accessories: checked for consistency, never relied upon alone.

Read how we authenticate.

Caring for an Audemars Piguet

• Follow the house's recommended service intervals, and use the house or an authorised specialist.
• Have water resistance tested periodically, especially before swimming.
• Keep polishing to a minimum to preserve the hand-finished surfaces.
• Clean steel bracelets gently with a soft brush and warm water, with the crown secured, then dry with a soft cloth.
• Keep watches away from strong magnets and store them in a box or watch roll.

The language of Audemars Piguet

Tapisserie is the chequered guilloché dial. Integrated bracelet means the bracelet flows directly from the case. Calibre is a movement reference. Le Brassus is the village where the house is based. Our glossary explains more.

Audemars Piguet at Encore Luxe

See our Audemars Piguet page for watches currently available.

Related: Code 11.59 · Rolex · Omega

Encore Luxe is an independent retailer and is not affiliated with Audemars Piguet.