The brand’s unique blend of traditional watchmaking expertise and contemporary culture references means its timepieces are sought after by watch enthusiasts and collectors, as well as by internationally renowned artists in music and film. Audemars Piguet has developed a reputation for being a brand that knows exactly what it is doing and where it is going, allowing it to position itself as one of the true market leaders. Formed in 1875 by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, both of whom had a talent for making complicated pocket watches, Audemars Piguet has always been at the forefront of haute horlogerie. It was one of Audemars first forays into exceptionally complicated mechanisms that inspired the Maison’s complicated pocket watches, and by the end of the 1800s, the brand was thriving and widening its international presence with branches in London, Paris, and New York. It is in the Vallée de Joux, at the heart of the Swiss Jura in Le Brassus, where this still family-owned brand continues to manufacture its horological masterpieces, including its flagship watch – the Gerald Genta designed Royal Oak – the world’s first luxury sports watch, which, in 2022 celebrates its 50th anniversary. First launched in 1972, it was the first luxury watch to be made from stainless steel, proving that a timepiece could be both robust and luxurious, it revolutionised the thinking around materials and its integrated bracelet and screwed-down, octagonal bezel has sparked a myriad of imitations. In 1992 the Royal Oak Offshore was launched. Throughout its history, Audermars Piguet has been at the forefront of innovation. There was the first jumping-hour wristwatch in 1921; the first skeleton in 1934; the first direct-impulse escapement in 2006 and its 2015 Michael Schumacher collaboration, the Royal Oak Concept Laptimer, was the first mechanical chronograph with independent memory and three-column wheels.