Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is here to stay
The collection was meant to be the watch brand’s next growth pillar – and it still is.
WHEN Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet was rolled out in 2019, the brand’s chief executive Francois-Henry Bennahmias called it “the biggest launch since 1972”. But like the Royal Oak, the new watch line provoked extreme reactions when it was unveiled.
Will it eventually grow to be a success story like the Royal Oak is today?
The new collection has hit the ground running, continuing to expand in the three short years since its launch. Just last month, three new models were added to the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection – and this in a year when the highly coveted Royal Oak is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The message is clear. Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is here to stay; and will be a mainstay of the brand’s lineup, alongside the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore and Royal Oak Concept.
Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet, which took more than five years to develop, is about the brand constantly challenging itself to push the limits of craftsmanship. ‘CODE’ incidentally stands for Challenge, Own, Dare and Evolve; while ‘11.59’ is about being ahead of the game and constantly on the brink of tomorrow.
Forging its own distinctive identity
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The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is defined by its round bezel and case-back but look closer and you will discover embedded between them is an octagonal middle case, with a mix of brushed and polished finishes. Together, these features combine to give the collection its own distinctive aesthetic.
Then there are the open-design lugs and “double-curved” profile sapphire crystal. The inner surface of the crystal take the shape of a dome, while its exterior is curved at a right angle from six to 12 o’clock – a concave-convex optical design that, Audemars Piguet says, provides a clear view of the entire dial.
At 41mm, the watches can be worn by both women and men, according to the brand.
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A flying start
While new collections typically kick off with just one or a handful of new watches, the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet came with an entire lineup.
Since the launch of its initial 13 references, the collection has seen the addition of new dial designs, material combinations, as well as new complications such as the Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie and the Flying Tourbillon Chronograph.
The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is still constantly evolving and expanding – two gem-set models, that were a first for the collection, were unveiled earlier this year.
The latest to join the family, in September, are a trio of gravity-defying watches: a hand-wound tourbillon openworked in electric blue ceramic and white gold; an automatic flying tourbillon with a black onyx dial; and an automatic flying tourbillon paired with a chronograph.
Ceramic is prominently featured in all three timepieces – the first time so many complicated models of a collection are crafted in this high-tech material. The ceramic case middle is also a joint effort with Bangerter – a company which manufactures precision components from advanced ceramics and other super hard materials.
Colour and complication
These watches are variations of existing Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet models, appearing in different materials, colours and designs. The most striking is the Tourbillon Openworked that combines 18-carat white gold and blue ceramic, with the two-tone contrast giving the watch’s multi-faceted architecture full play. The watch also has a matching blue rubber-coated strap lined with calfskin leather.
The blue ceramic is featured in the mid-case of the watch, which is meticulously hand-finished with the alternation of satin brushing and polished chamfers. The bezel and open lugs are in white gold. The challenge here has been to reach a perfect alignment of the rounded and angular surfaces of the ceramic and white gold elements, a task achievable only by hand.
The openworked dial, which has a thin blue lacquered inner bezel – the colour achieved through chemical vapour deposition (CVD rather than PVD) – and pink gold hands, reveals an openworked tourbillon movement whose tricolours of pink-gold, light grey and blue decorations amplified the 3D effect. The blue here, which is the dominant colour, is the result of a chemical process known as Atomic Layer Deposition. Flip the watch over and the words “Limited Edition of 50 pieces” are found engraved on the white gold and sapphire case-back.
The highly sophisticated selfwinding flying tourbillon with the black onyx face is encased in white gold and black ceramic. The absence of hour-markers highlights the purity of the very chic dial which is, instead, graced by a printed gold-toned minute track on the inner bezel; while pink gold hands and a laser cut, pink gold “Audemars Piguet” signature join the tourbillon case.
Crafted in collaboration with Someco, a Swiss specialist in dial manufacturing, the dial was carved out of a single black onyx stone and sanded and polished to perfection. Each dial is unique, because every stone is different from another.
The new flying tourbillon chronograph variant is the second of its kind to join the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet lineup; the first was in 2020, in a limited edition of 50 pieces. The new version is also limited to 50 pieces but, while the original was in white gold and blue ceramic, this one is wrapped in pink gold and black ceramic which, because of its technicality, requires specific manufacturing and hand-finishing processes. The complicated mechanisms of the flying tourbillon and the flyback chronograph, visible through the openworked dial, also sport black and pink-gold tones.
With these three complicated timepieces, yet another new chapter for the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet has begun.
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