Audemars Piguet

Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, both from the Vallée de Joux, formalised their partnership in 1875. The valley was then the centre of complicated movement work, and the pair spent their early decades supplying calibres to other houses — Tiffany among them — rather than selling under their own name.

The firm remains privately held by descendants of the founding families, an unusual survival in an industry consolidated into three or four groups.

Its defining moment came in 1972, in the depths of the quartz crisis, when Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak: a steel watch priced above gold ones, with an octagonal bezel, exposed screws, and an integrated bracelet, drawn by Gérald Genta reportedly overnight. It was widely mocked at launch. It created the luxury sports watch category and now underpins the entire company.

The Royal Oak Offshore of 1993 pushed the same design larger and louder, and drew similar early scepticism before becoming a pillar in its own right. The Code 11.59 collection, introduced in 2019, was the house's attempt to prove it could sell something else — a mixed reception commercially, though the movements inside are serious.

Underneath the modern noise, the complication pedigree is intact: minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, and some of the thinnest tourbillon movements built anywhere.

Audemars Piguet holds 12 models, from £17,950 to £114,400. Half cost less than £37,475, and a quarter less than £34,150. 12 of 12 are automatic. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1875

Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet begin working together.

1881

The firm is registered as Audemars Piguet & Cie.

1972

The Royal Oak launches, inventing the luxury steel sports watch.

1993

The Royal Oak Offshore extends the line.

2019

Code 11.59 debuts as a new collection.