July 01, 2020:  A year after its official launch, Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet continues to evolve with five new Selfwinding date, hour, minute and second references and five new Selfwinding Chronograph models. Adorned with complex lacquered dials and a palette of deep colours, these novelties offer a new contemporary twist to this timeless round watch.

 

Rising to a new challenge, Audemars Piguet craftspeople have affirmed their creative vision via new smoked lacquered dials with sunburst pattern in hues of blue, burgundy, purple, as well as light and dark grey. The dials’ artistry is enhanced by the watch’s extra-thin bezel and double curved glareproofed sapphire crystal. Playing with depth and light, this complex glass brings forward the detailed work adorning the dials, including the applied

 

 

 

polished Audemars Piguet gold signature realised in galvanic growth.

 

The dials’ elegant colours complement the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet’s contemporary architecture and refined decoration. Composed of an octagonal middle case, a round extra-thin bezel and stylised lugs, the unconventional case design pushed ancestral hand-finishing techniques to new heights with more details than meet the eye. The perfectly aligned alternation of satin-brushed and polished surfaces adorning the case was only achievable by hand.

 

Designed for both men and women, this collection also features an optimum curved ergonomics, making it comfortable for all to wear despite its 41 mm in diameter.

 

 

 

  The smoked burgundy lacquered dial provides a powerful contrast with the white gold case of this Selfwinding Chronograph model.

 

 

 

 

  The complex geometry of the case and lugs is accentuated by a blend of 18-carat white and pink gold.

 

 

 

Audemars Piguet has also enriched its Selfwinding date, hour, minute and second models as well as its Selfwinding Chronograph models with a two-tone case aesthetics juxtaposing 18-carat white and pink gold. This exclusive combination highlights the case’s multiple geometries, hand-finished to the nine, as well as the collection’s blend of age-old craftsmanship and innovative design.

 

 

 

 

Each watch comes with a hand-stitched “large-square scale” alligator strap matching the dial’s colour.

 

Making no compromise, Audemars Piguet once again unites tradition and contemporary lifestyle in this colourful collection which testifies to the Manufacture’s creativity and forward-thinking spirit.

 

 

 

A PALETTE OF SMOKED

SUNBURST LACQUERED DIALS

 

 

 

 

REFINED INTENSITY

 

 

The sunburst smoked burgundy lacquered dial’s red shades and rich nuances illuminate the 18-carat white gold case. The dial is complemented with 18-carat white gold hands and applied hour-markers.

 

 

 

OCEAN DEEP

 

 

Sun and ocean meet in the 18-carat pink gold model with smoked blue lacquered dial. The dial’s sunburst effect recalls underwater sunrays. The black inner bezel provides depth and intensity, while the double curved glareproofed sapphire crystal offers a unique play of light.

 

 

 

UNCOMPROMISINGLY PURPLE

 

 

 

Bringing together the calm stability of blue and the intensity of red, this model in purple hues suggests uncompromising elegance. The contrast between the watch’s smoked purple lacquered dial and 18-carat pink gold case is further emphasized by pink gold applied hour-markers and hands.

 

 

 

REFINED TWO-TONE CASES

 

 

 

The Manufacture presents two Selfwinding date, hour, minute and second models, plus two Selfwinding Chronograph models with distinctive two-tone gold

cases and dials in shades of grey. The 18-carat white gold bezel, lugs and caseback are subtly enhanced by

an 18-carat pink gold middle case. These new models’ interweaving of 18-carat white and pink gold foregrounds the case’s multifaceted architecture and high-end hand-finishing techniques.

 

 

The sapphire caseback also reveals the 22-carat pink gold oscillating weight matching the middle

case’s colour. Two-tone gold cases are extremely rare in the history of Audemars Piguet’s wristwatches. Out of the 550 wristwatches produced and sold between 1882 and 1969, only 8 examples combined two types of gold. The blend of white and pink gold was particularly rare, with only one wristwatch recorded in the Manufacture’s archives before 1978. Although, this combination has become more prevalent today, it This light grey Selfwinding model is illuminated by an elegant touch remains a distinct symbol of refinement and elegance.

of pink gold.

 

 

While the understated nuances of the light grey sunburst lacquered dial brings forward refined light, the smoked grey sunburst lacquered dial gives depth to the watch. The latter’s black inner bezel accentuates the dial’s nuances. The two models come with a matching grey or black hand-stitched “large square-scale” alligator strap.

 

 

  The pink gold hour-markers, hands and counter threads subtly echo this Selfwinding Chronograph model’s pink gold middle case.

 

 

 

5

 

 

POWERED BY THE MANUFACTURE’S LATEST MECHANISMS

 

 

 

 

“The development of calibres 4302 and 4401 came with multiple technical challenges, including the design

 

of the resetting mechanism to ensure the three chronograph counters’ perfect return to zero. The synchronisation of their developments with the launch of the collection Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet brought an added complication, which we managed thanks to the relentless hard work

 

of numerous people from different horizons. It was an unforgettable human adventure.”

 

 

Lucas Raggi,

 

Development Director

 

  The dedicated 22-carat oscillating weight of this

 

Selfwinding model is visible through the sapphire

 

caseback.

 

 

 

These new Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet models are equipped with the Manufacture’s latest generation of selfwinding and selfwinding chronograph move-ments released last year.

 

The Selfwinding models house calibre 4302, an automatic movement with second and instant-jump date indication.

 

 

 

The Selfwinding Chronograph models are powered by calibre 4401, an integrated chronograph with column wheel and flyback function that enables to restart the chronograph without stopping and resetting it first.

 

Both movements are equipped with a patented setting mechanism that brings stability and precision when adjusting the watch’s functions. With a large diameter of 32 mm, these movements also present reinforced chronometry.

 

Visible through the watch’s caseback, these two calibres uphold fine watchmaking tradition with refined hand-finishing techniques including “traits tirés,” “Côtes de Genève,” circular graining, circular satin, and diamond-polished angles.

 

In addition, calibre 4401 is endowed with a patented zero resetting mechanism which ensures that each one of the counter hands is seamlessly reset to zero. It is also equipped with a vertical clutch system that

 

 

 

prevents hands from jumping when the chronograph is started or stopped.

 

Calibre 4401 additionally presents a pioneering design. This movement has been conceived to highlight functions and components usually hidden from view, such as the column wheel and the so-called “dance” of the chronograph hammers when the chronograph is reset to zero.* The watch’s dedicated openworked oscillating weight in 22-carat gold further provides unobstructed view on the movement. All these elements can be appreciated through the watch’s caseback.

 

Combining horological technology and traditional savoir-faire, these two calibres reflect Audemars Piguet’s uncompromising spirit.

 

 

*When the reset button is activated, the hammers, driven by an operating lever, hit the chronograph’s heart-piece cams to bring the chronograph wheels and hands back to zero.