The Most Important Audemars Piguet Watches Ever Created: Part II

Where the locus of Audemars Piguet’s first century of watchmaking was revolution, the last 40 years have been about a process of continual and increasingly impassioned evolution.

In Part II of our look back at a handful of the most important AP watches to date, we contemplate - in a concerted fashion - how the fundamental Royal Oak design has continued to mature and shift, often in very unexpected ways.

Thankfully, it isn’t all about the world’s favorite integrated bracelet sports watch. Between all the Offshores and ‘RD’ models, we leave page space to contemplate the manufacture’s more radical designs: ranging from idiosyncratic satellite displays to the agony and ecstasy that is CODE 11.59.

The Star Wheel (1991)

Beginning development in the early 1990s, the ‘Star Wheel’ is of a kindred spirit to the numerous visually innovative time displays AP had already experimented with during the early 20th century. (The heures sautantes models, first launched in 1921, are the consummate example of this.)

Inspired by the heritage of 18th century clockmaking - as depicted in the Journal Suisse de l’Horlogerie - the first Star Wheel prototypes took 18 months to develop; originally making their debut as part of the now-discontinued Jules Audemars collection.

Devoid of the traditional two or three-arm handstack you’ll find in a typical mechanical watch, the Star Wheel instead tells the time with three transparent sapphire discs - themselves mounted on a central wheel which completes one full rotation every three hours.

As the wheel turns, this gradually brings one-third of each ‘satellite’ disc into contact with a scale, marked 0-60, along the upper portion of the watch’s dial. Small arrow-shaped pointers (four per disc, 12 overall) are used, in conjunction with the scale, to display the passage of minutes.

The visual freedom inherent in this kind of satellite display encouraged AP’s watchmakers to pursue a variety of decoration. The inaugural model, released in 1992, sported a dial finished with an intricate engine-turned motif. That same year, the company offered a variation: this time, using an extravagant “foliate engraving”.

Collectors widely regard the 1995 ‘John Shaeffer’ models, made in a limited run of 40 pieces, to be among the most important; yet the complication continues to loom large in the shared consciousness of the brand - as evidenced by the CODE 11.59 Star Wheel.

The Royal Oak Offshore (1993)

Few creation myths speak to history’s repetitive nature better than that of the Royal Oak Offshore. Launched in 1993 following a four-year development curve, this steroidal 42mm riff on the OG Royal Oak was panned - at least, initially - by industry tastemakers: including Gérald Genta himself. 

In a now-infamous anecdote, Genta is alleged to have stormed the AP pavilion at Baselworld the year of the Offshore’s release. He panned the design for being whale-like, and reportedly even accused the brand of “killing [his] baby”.

With the benefit of hindsight, such criticisms seem hyperbolic. But at the time of its release in the early 1990s - a decade best remembered for the X-Games and Illmatic - there really were few watches that spoke as effectively to the grit and youthful iconoclasm of that era.

In any argument about why it’s a ‘modern classic’, collectors tend to cite the Offshore’s massive case; gasket seals; and use of the rubberized performance material Therban. However, for us here at Wristcheck, these characteristics are part of a wider, and crucially cultural, story.

For the past 30 years, the inaugural Ref. 25271 Offshore has been the rock upon which AP has built its extreme sports watch church. Emmanuel Gueit’s core design language has been extrapolated to create a whole universe of highly collectible limited editions: including a version worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in End of Days (1999); and a 100-piece run commissioned by Jay-Z to commemorate 10 years in the music business.

The First Grande Complication (1996)

Since the company’s inception in the late 19th century, Audemars Piguet has made at least one grand complication per year. Whether this takes the form of a pocket or wristwatch, it’s impossible to overstate the magnitude of such a technical achievement.

At AP, the feted grande complication has traditionally always consisted of a minute repeater, perpetual calendar and rattrapante (split-second chronograph). The company’s 1996 grand comp pushed the envelope further still, adding automatic winding and a weekly indication: all within the confines of a single case - a combination which hadn’t previously been attempted.

Since the late '90s, it’s undeniable that AP has gone on to make a range of watches that are more mechanically sophisticated; but the original Grand Complication continues to hold the attention of scholarly collectors because of what it represents.

A platinum masterpiece requiring more than 700 hours of work individually, it remains the first instance of AP attempting - successfully - to synthesize all of its complicated watchmaking for the arena of wristwear. That alone counts for plenty.

The Royal Oak CW1 (2002)

One of the most famous examples, during the New Millenium, of a watch that used heritage design in order to predict the future, the CW1 opened the door to an entire collection of ‘Concept’ watches at AP - and in so doing, ushered in the era of the horological hypercar. 

Made in a compact production run of 150 pieces over two years, there’s a clear through line between the CW1 and subsequent, more aesthetically coherent Concept models: such as the Ref. 26587 (famously worn by John Mayer).

Be that as it may, few would dispute the CW1’s cutting-edge credentials. At the time of its release, this was one of the few wristwatches to deploy titanium in such large quantities (for the movement’s bridges and baseplate). The CW1 design also dispensed with the need for finicky multi-stage crowns - in favor of a separate pusher that allowed wearers to switch between various mechanical functions.

Additionally, the case was machined out of alacrite: a cobalt-based alloy (better known back then for its aerospace applications) developed to be amagnetic, corrosion-resistant and virtually impervious to surface abrasion. In essence, one of AP’s original performance materials.

Wearers could discern whether they were using the CW1’s crown to set the time or wind the movement via a gearbox-esque display on the dial. Such design cues and methods of interfacing were crucial in setting the tone for brands like Richard Mille (who would later market themselves as makers of “a racing machine on the wrist”). 

In fact, the connection to Mille goes even deeper: since the Calibre 2896 - the beating heart of the CW1—is the brainchild of Dominique Renaud and Giulio Papi, two alumni of AP who would go on to establish the specialist manufacturer in 1986 that became APRP. 

The ‘Michael Schumacher’ Concept Laptimer (2015)

For the most part, it’s uncontroversial to say that the average celebrity watch endorsement is a flimsy pretext upon which to reach nominally new audiences with an existing product. Fortunately, AP’s Royal Oak Concept Laptimer is a heroic outlier in that regard.

A watch whose mechanics have already been explained, in unwavering detail, by my colleague Aaron Voyles; I shall merely confine myself to observing that this Royal Oak Concept is one of the few personality-led collabs that truly embodies the excellence of the exceptional individual that it celebrates. 

Released two years after Michael Schumacher’s untimely skiing accident in 2013, one really gets the sense—upon handling this watch—that it was made with the legendary Formula One driver’s regal persona and aggressive performance in mind.

Outwardly reminiscent of a classic rattrapante, the Concept Laptimer is actually equipped with three column wheels: an innovation - developed by APRP, no less—for which the brand holds patent protection.

The direct result of Schumacher’s request for a chrono capable of measuring consecutive lap times, this particular Royal Oak Concept is a rare example of what new technical heights might be achieved where there’s genuine collaboration—ditto from outside the watch industry.

The RD#2 (2018)

Funny story: I originally covered the RD#2 back when it was originally unveiled in Hong Kong, and whilst I was already effusive in my praise even then; time has only deepened said admiration for what is still one of the thinnest (and arguably best looking) perpetual calendar watches on the market. 

With an overall case thickness of 6.3mm, the RD#2 occupies the rarest of strata in complicated watchmaking: being both impossibly svelte, but also, impossibly technical. The use of a mono-level construction is something which had been previously attempted by several brands; yet almost never in relation to a self-winding perpetual calendar. Where ultra-thin players like Richard Mille and Piaget prioritized engineering achievement at the cost of wearability, the RD#2 has unequivocally always been a joy on the wrist. The satined dial and titanium construction immediately set this apart from the more simplistic Royal Oak executions; yet this is also balanced by the watch’s innate sense of proportion. It wears, in a word, very Jumbo-esque.

In the tradition of designs such as the Ref. 25643 tourbillon, the RD#2 is the latest in an esteemed heritage of pioneering wristwatches at AP—specifically, those that blend miniaturization together with complexity. In other words: two of the most important fields of expertise for any serious watch brand. 

The CODE 11.59 Chronograph (2019)

For some, the mere mention of the words “CODE 11.59” is enough to conjure up a meltdown of Twitter-esque proportions. But now that many of the collection’s basic design cues have been overhauled, and much more warmly received than in 2019, we felt it was opportune to revisit AP’s most contemporary watch line. Or more accurately, one particular part of it. 

When it made its polarizing debut four years ago, the CODE collection consisted of six models: including a supersonnerie, perpetual calendar, and entry-level self-winding option (to name but a few). Of these, I’m of the fervent belief that the chronograph will prove to be impactful for the brand in the long run - commercially and culturally.

Like so many other Swiss watchmakers, for much of the 20th century, AP relied upon third parties to supply it with modular chronographs; and consequently, the from-scratch development of a truly in-house version (a.k.a. Calibre 4401) is enough to secure the CODE 11.59 chronos a spot in our shortlist.

Boasting a fully integrated architecture, which uses the superior column wheel construction, this Calibre 4401 has even been praised by Peter Speake (of Speake-Marin renown) as “solid, accurate, aesthetically balanced and well thought through”.

In short, the arrival of the CODE 11.59 chronographs also heralded the end of AP’s reliance on external suppliers like Dubois-Depraz, and the brand has wasted no time in making its first authentically in-house chrono integral across its entire offering. (Editor’s Note: see the revamped Offshore 43mm collection.)

The RD#3 (2022)

Coming a whole four years after the revered RD#2 perpetual calendar, we love this expression of AP’s ongoing ‘Research and Development’ program precisely because it epitomizes the art of the subtle flex - a watch which, to the uninitiated, simply looks like your average Royal Oak tourbillon (if one can even utter ‘average’ and ‘Royal Oak’ in the same sentence).

Launched, fittingly, on the occasion of the Royal Oak Jumbo’s 50th birthday, the RD#3 is a clear blood relative of its immediate predecessor: in large part, because of both pieces’ emphasis on aesthetics, practical wearability and a kind of benign mechanical sophistication. 

Whereas the primary focus with the RD#2 was to push the boundaries of automatic, ultra-thin calendar watchmaking, the RD#3’s significance is twofold. Firstly, it is a pure tribute to the form language of the iconic Ref. 5402.

More significantly, it uses the Jumbo’s period-correct dimensions (39mm x 8.1mm) in order to introduce an ultra-flat tourbillon - the first time the public has seen that emblematic complication within the framework of the original Royal Oak.

Keen as ever to make such technology relevant for its real-life clientele, AP has leveraged what it learned through the development and production of the new Calibre 2968 to craft another even smaller RD#3 reference - measuring 37mm and released late last year. Talk about striking while the iron’s still hot…

The RD#4 (2023)

Having now officially supplanted the 1996 Jules Audemars Grande Complication to become the most complicated watch ever produced by AP, a lengthy thesis about why the RD#4 deserves to be in such esteemed company is probably moot.

An apogee of all the breakthroughs which the brand achieved with its last three ‘Research and Development’ watches, the project synthesizes a number of disparate, but individually important elements: including the CODE 11.59 form language, 17 “technical devices”, and an expletive-inducing 23 complications.

Hell, as far as ultra-complications (starting at US$1.45 million) go, the RD#4 is even - dare we say it - surprisingly wearable.

As with every other influential timepiece that made our list, it’s all of the stuff around the RD#4’s unveiling that speaks to its cultural significance. The swan song of AP’s inimitable, and sometimes controversial, outgoing CEO - François-Henry Bennahmias - it ended up taking home the Aiguille d’Or at this year’s GPHG Awards: confirmation that, for better or worse, AP is committed to CODE 11.59 as a platform for innovation.