This week has brought a lot of news from Le Brassus, hasn't it?
If you thought that was all, let me convince you otherwise! In fact, we are just beginning. Today, I will tell you about perhaps the most impressive of all new releases - the Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch.
Before you close the tab thinking pocket watches are not for you, I urge you to pay attention. These watches pack an astonishing number of functions - 47, of which no fewer than 22 are traditional complications. This platinum masterpiece features a mechanical computer on the case back, designed to unite different cultures. Believe me, even if you never become its owner, it deserves a few minutes of your time. Let's take a closer look!
Cultural and Celestial Inspiration
Timekeeping and astrology have emerged in almost all great civilizations. Regardless of religious, scientific, or practical purposes like agricultural planning, humanity has always been fascinated by celestial bodies.
This has led to a variety of calendars based on the Sun, the Moon, or a combination of both. They all aim to mark significant events through astronomical observations. For example, the Gregorian solar calendar considers the Earth's rotation around the Sun, where solstices and equinoxes serve as seasonal markers. In contrast, Jewish, Hindu, and Chinese lunisolar calendars use the Moon for months and the Sun for annual cycles. Pure lunar calendars, like the Islamic one, rely solely on the Moon.
On the case back of the Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch is a mechanical computer based on the Gregorian calendar. It combines eight complications, merging solar, lunar-solar, and lunar cycles on a single circular display. A total of 18 indicators are available: years, leap years, months, dates, weeks, Moon phases, and seasonal markers like solstices and equinoxes.
Moreover, it displays nine holidays from different cultures, including Christmas, Diwali, Passover, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year. All this information is available for any year from 1900 to 2099, managed by a bidirectional wheel. The mechanism is passive and not linked to the watch's caliber.
Creation History of Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch
Technically, everything mentioned above is not yet built directly into the Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch. It is rather a separate mechanism located on the case back. But the watch case conceals even more wealth of high horology mechanics.
This new pocket chronograph should be considered in a historical context. The line began in 1899 when AP created the most complex pocket watch of the time - "L’Universelle" for Union Glashütte. In 1921, even more complicated watches "La Grosse Pièce" for S. Smith & Sons followed. Then we jump to 2023, when caliber 1000 appeared in wristwatches RD#4 - for the first time, an ultra-complicated caliber by Audemars Piguet was applied in wrist format.
The modern release is based on caliber 1000 but returns it to the pocket watch format. Caliber 1150 took the 1000 as a base and removed the automatic winding. Then AP reworked the buttons for optimal control in pocket watches. The button at 2 o'clock starts and stops the chronograph, switches the chime mode (silent, petite sonnerie, grande sonnerie), and activates the minute repeater with a new slide mechanism.
At 3 o'clock is the main winding button, which controls the winding, bidirectional date correction, time setting, and chronograph second hand. The button at 4 o'clock resets the flyback chronograph and adjusts the month forward or backward, automatically returning to the neutral position for precision and convenience. Thus, while maintaining the basic architecture, the new caliber 1150 required immense craftsmanship to implement.
Complications of Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch
Usually, I do not copy information from press releases, but for Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage, I will make an exception. AP divides complications into two categories: complications and intuitively mechanized ergonomics. The total number depends on the definition, so AP conservatively lists 22 complications. Below is a complete list of functions by category.
Complications:
- Tourbillon
- Day indication
- Date indication
- Large date
- Month indication
- Year indication (units and tens, semi-Gregorian calendar)
- Mechanical calculation of leap year (with indication)
- Mechanical calculation of century leap year exception (100/400 years, with indication)
- Moon phase mechanism
- Moon display
- Chronograph seconds
- Chronograph minutes
- Chronograph hours
- Split seconds
- Hour strike mechanism
- Quarter strike mechanism
- Grande sonnerie (large strike)
- Petite sonnerie (small strike)
- Minute repeater
- Year indication (units and tens, universal calendar)
- Mechanical calculation of leap year (universal calendar)
- Century and millennium disk
- Common or leap year indication
- Mobile leap year calendar disk
- Mobile lunar calendar disk
- Mobile week disk
- Mobile cultural holiday indicator
- Hijri new moon indicators
Intuitively Mechanized Ergonomics:
- High-amplitude escapement
- Hour and minute display (for ease of reading)
- Bidirectional time setting
- Shock protection
- Quick date correction
- Bidirectional date correction
- Bidirectional quick month correction
- Indirect quick year correction
- Unidirectional quick day correction
- Unidirectional quick Moon correction
- Chronograph start/stop mechanism (without hand jumps)
- Chronograph reset mechanism (with force control)
- Flyback mechanism
- Split seconds activation/deactivation
- Silent chime mode
- Chime and display synchronization mechanism
- Vertical chime coupling with low energy consumption
- Delay mechanism
- Low-energy lift mechanisms
- High-tone hammer with elastic rebound
- Low-tone hammer with elastic rebound
- Chime lock when not wound
- Chime isolation when setting time
- Protective uncoupling winding mechanism for chime
- Unidirectional manual winding of the chime mechanism
- Quarter silence function
- Silent regulator
- Resonance table
- Bidirectional universal calendar quick correction
- Crown management mechanism
- Multifunctional button at 2 o'clock
- Multifunctional button at 4 o'clock
Art of Finishing and Appearance
There will be only two models of the Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch in platinum, and eight pieces in 18-carat white gold. Both versions feel substantial - the case measures 50 mm in diameter and 23.4 mm in thickness. A critical reader might think that a 50 mm case for a mechanism about 34.3 mm in diameter is too much. However, AP uses this space to smartly arrange a massive amount of information. Just take a look at the elegant mechanical computer on the case back - it cannot be compressed.
Inside the case is a translucent blue enamel dial with white gold Roman numerals. The background and the entire side of the case are decorated with hand engraving. They depict the founders of AP, the Vallée de Joux, and the 150th-anniversary logo. The watch comes with a hand-crafted platinum chain.
Special attention deserves the "Supersonnerie Sapphire Soundboard," almost invisible through the case back due to its transparency. It amplifies the chime sound without obstructing the view of the mechanism.
Final Thoughts on Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage
Before us is a pocket watch in platinum or white gold with a mechanism of 1099 components, a mechanical computer, 22 complications (by Swiss watch industry standards, there could be about 60), hand-engraved case and dial, enamel work, and an ambitious idea of uniting cultures.
Handcrafted Platinum Chain
It's easy to be skeptical when it comes to luxury items costing over 2 million Swiss francs. The question of whether the world needs such a product is quite valid. However, it's nice to know that there is a small corner of the planet where such things are possible. There, a person explores the boundaries of craftsmanship using hands, tools, and machines, while the budget takes a back seat to ambition. And although this piece of art won't bring world peace, the unification of holidays on one calendar commands respect.
What do you think about the new Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Pocket Watch? Share your thoughts in the comments!