Audemars Piguet
(Active since 1875)
Audemars Piguet Holding SA is a Swiss luxury manufacturer, specialising in mechanical watches and clocks. Founded in 1875 by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux, the company was named after its founders and now based in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The business is still run by the founders’ families and with the annual production output of circa 40,000 items remains a highly regarded watch manufacturer.
Before partnering up, the two artisans had already made significant progress in the art of watchmaking: Louis Audemars manufactured complex movements for such prominent watchmakers as Tiffany & Co, and Edward Auguste Piguet’s area of expertise was the regulation of watch movements. This experience helped the partners to split the responsibilities and optimise the processes.
The history of the company includes many notable and important inventions. In 1892, the manufacturer presented the world’s first minute-repeating movement for wristwatches, and this became an absolute breakthrough in the watchmaking industry at the time. It was also Audemars Piguet’s skilful watchmakers, who in 1921 made the world's first jumping-hour wristwatch, that was driven by Calibre HPVM10. The worlds thinnest watch with a 1.64-mm-thick movement, produced in 1946, belongs to Audemars Piguet as well.
The company prestige was elevated after the introduction of their legendary Royal Oak collection, the first luxury sport wristwatch in the world. The stunning collection was followed by the invention of an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon wristwatch, the world's first automatic "Grande Complication" wristwatch and the first watch with a carbon case and a carbon movement. The manufacturer's latest invention dates back to 2019: the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar in the world was presented that year.
In 2015, Audemars Piguet introduced the world's first mechanical chronograph with independent memory and three column-wheels. The invention was named after the brand's honourable client and ambassador, German F1 racing legend Michael Schumacher. Among other notable customers of the company are famous athletes, actors and celebrities: Lionel Messi, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger are only a few of them to be listed. Timepieces by Audemars Piguetare also popular among royal family members all over the world: they have been worn by Mohammad Reza Shah, Shah of Iran, Juan Carlos I of Spain and Felipe VI of Spain, Prince Michael of Kent and Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
A proud member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, Audemars Piguet Holding SA is an important representative of Swiss luxury watchmaking industry, and though the business is private and the output is quite small compared to such prosperous manufacturers as Rolex, Omega and Patek Philippe, the demand and popularity of these watches is evergrowing.