Inspiration From Isolation

AUDEMARS PIGUET failed to get into the upscale watch industry's highly exclusive billion Swiss franc sales club in 2017 by just a whisker. But it was so close that its executives are confident this year will be a shoo-in.

In any case, as one of the last sizeable independent labels in the Swiss watch business, it put up a fine performance in 2017 to get to where it did. The brand famous for its Royal Oak Offshore collection chalked up sales growth of 12 per cent when the industry's average was no more than 3 per cent.

Only Richard Mille is thought to have done better with an estimated sales increase of 20 per cent. But then, Richard Mille's production of under 4,000 watches a year is only about a tenth of Audemars Piguet's output.