Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Audemars Piguet Holding SA
Audemars Piguet New Watches at the 2018 SIHH
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Audemars Piguet definitely presented one of the most interesting timepiece of this SIHH with the RD2. This ultra thin perpetual calendar is still a concept watch, but it should come out probably next year.
The team of Audemars Piguet have reimagined some key components of the traditional QP in order to achieve this spectacular result and reduce the overall size and thickness of this movement.
But the brand showed us some other watches as you will be able to enjoy in this video report.
Transcript (13 segments)
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Interviewer0:10
We are here with Audemars Piguet and Olivier Audemars, who will talk to us about the main novelties presented at SIHH 2018.
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Olivier Audemars0:17
The main novelty this year is the RD#2. We name watches with new technologies for the following year, like the Super Sonnerie, which was RD#1. The RD#2 combines old tradition with innovation, enabling us to create a perpetual calendar in a case three times smaller, with the same quality and reliability. We achieved this by integrating three functions into one complex component.
Yes, we are seeing an evolution in the type of watches that ladies are interested in. This year, for the first time, we will have ladies' concepts, and I'm really proud of that because I think it's a great line.
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Interviewer1:41
Still in the Royal Oak, we've seen a new Tourbillon with a beautiful new type of guilloché, like a chocolate box but with a solar feel. Can you explain a bit about this one?
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Olivier Audemars1:57
What we are doing is using very old machinery. These machines use different ways to combine motions, which gives the illusion of a square while it's not. This reflects light in a completely different way, making the dial much more alive, but it takes much longer. For a classic dial, the machinery takes one hour or more for the first step, and for this shape, it's nearly double the time.
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Interviewer2:44
And this watch is kind of unisex; I can totally imagine men and women wearing it.
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Olivier Audemars2:49
Yes, we are seeing that more and more. It was similar with the frosted gold we presented last year; we had a lot of inquiries from men for that watch.
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Interviewer3:03
Another thing that illustrates this is the double balancier, which you're also introducing this year. It's not a totally new movement, but the execution is different.
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Olivier Audemars3:14
Yes, actually the one that we launched, I love it. I don't have it on my wrist, but the watch that I wear every day is this double balance wheel. With the double balance wheel, we've been able to increase the precision by averaging out the impacts of what happens when the spring opens and closes. When it opens, it's not perfectly symmetrical, so the center of gravity moves slightly, impacting accuracy. By having two springs opening in opposite directions, we suppress this impact.
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Interviewer4:00
And how is the Millenary evolving, in terms of business, for Audemars Piguet?
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Olivier Audemars4:07
Well, the Millenary is now more a ladies' line, and that's something I like a lot. What's special about the Millenary is that due to its oval shape, you can have the dial on one side and the escapement on the other, giving an in-depth view of the mechanism. You can see the beating heart of the watch in front of you.
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Interviewer4:38
Thank you very much for your time.
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Olivier Audemars4:39
You're welcome.