Le Brassus, February 2023 – Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet presents three new Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie. These new timepieces mark the introduction of a brand-new sapphire dial as well as the first time that black ceramic has been interwoven into the 18-carat gold cases of the Grand Sonnerie Supersonnerie Carillon collection, creating a stylized two-tone design and powerful contrast of colours and materials. These three one-of-a-kind, highly complicated timepieces are powered by a newly designed Calibre 2956 and come in a choice of 18-carat pink, yellow or white gold. It is also the first time that a timepiece from the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection has been created in 18-carat yellow gold.
© Courtesy of Audemars Piguet
When the movement becomes the dial
This latest trilogy showcases a new interpretation of Audemars Piguet’s state-of-the-art Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supesonnerie chiming mechanism by aesthetically redesigning the hand-wound movement in such a way that it can take pride of place under a sapphire crystal dial. The modifications include the openworking of the bridges at four and six o’clock, the removal of the railway track and a change from a circular graining decoration in favour of “traits tirés”. The colour of each movement has also been studied to be uniform on both sides as well as harmonious with the colour of the case. This year marks the first time that a transparent sapphire crystal dial appears in this collection, making the movement the face of the watch. A semi-matt black opaline inner bezel further draws the eye into the movement that has been hand decorated in the minutest detail with refined finishing techniques that blend tradition and innovation.
Delving into the movement
The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie timepieces are powered by the hand-wound movement, Calibre 2956, which unites the traditional Grande Sonnerie complication with a carillon and the patented Supersonnerie technology introduced by the Manufacture in 2015 in the Royal Oak Concept collection. This complex movement of 498 components, with its extremely high level of finishing on full show testifies to Audemars Piguet’s uncompromising horological standards.
A Grande Sonnerie timepiece not only strikes the hours, quarters and minutes on request as a traditional minute repeater would do, but like a bell tower, it can also strike the hours and every quarter hour that passes, without any involvement from the wearer. There is a selector so the wearer can choose either grand strike (hour and quarter hours), small strike (hours only), or silent mode. The Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie also features a carillon, meaning that it is endowed with three gongs and hammers instead of the traditional two gongs, allowing it to strike the quarter hour with three successive notes (high, middle and low) instead of two.
The added Supersonnerie mechanism grants this complicated wristwatch the acoustic performance of pocket watches. This patented technology is the result of eight years of research in collaboration with the EPFL (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne). Inspired by the sonic power of older minute repeater watches as well as by the harmony of musical instruments, a dedicated community of watchmakers, technicians, academics and musicians reviewed the case construction to produce a new chiming technology.
The Supersonnerie’s acoustic power, sound quality and harmonic tone are granted by patented gongs and case construction. The gongs are not attached to the main plate, but to a new device acting as a soundboard, which improves the sound transmission. This innovative Supersonnerie technology also provides a sharp tempo, as the hours and minutes chime without interruption when there is no quarter chiming sequence.
A case of contrast
The three 41 mm timepieces are different in terms of the colour of gold used to dress them, with options for 18-carat pink, yellow or white gold. The case middle, however, comes in black ceramic, creating a powerful and elegant contrast with the 18-carat gold extra-thin bezel, stylised lugs, and crown.
Even though ceramic has already been used for the case middle in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet chronographs in 2021 and the Manufacture’s high complications in 2022, this is the first time that the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie collection features this ultra-resistant material. In terms of materials, this is also the first time that the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet has been interpreted in yellow gold, making this unique piece truly special.
Matching the black and gold colours of the case, the three-dimensional face of the timepiece is adorned with hands, hour-markers and a small seconds counter that are also crafted in a mix of black and gold. The black accents on the dial are achieved with a galvanic bath, the duration and temperature of which is crucial to reach homogeneous colouring across the components’ surfaces.
The timepieces are completed with black rubber-coated straps with matching gold stitching, a calfskin lining and a gold AP folding clasp.
A striking legacy
Since its establishment in 1875, Audemars Piguet has specialised in complicated watches. Records show that more than half of the 1625 watches produced between 1882 and 1892 included a chiming mechanism. This achievement can be attributed to the remarkable skills of the craftspeople working for the Manufacture across dozens of workshops in the Vallée de Joux at the time. Considered as one of the most sophisticated and complicated mechanisms, the Grande Sonnerie was rare. Only 28 Audemars Piguet watches featured a Grande Sonnerie between 1882 and 1892.
In 1892, in collaboration with Louis Brandt & Frère, Audemars Piguet crafted the first minute repeater wristwatch (29.3 mm or 13 lignes in diameter) ever produced featuring two hammers set at a distance that could strike the hours, quarters and minutes on request. This was made possible thanks to the watchmakers who met the challenge of adapting and miniaturising complicated mechanisms for women’s diminutive watches. From 1892 to 1957, the Manufacture created 35 minute repeater wristwatches, none of which included a Grande Sonnerie due to the mechanical complexity of this complication.
While the production of chiming pocket watches never stopped at Audemars Piguet, production of chiming wristwatches slowly diminished with both the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War. By the 1960s, chiming mechanisms were exclusively featured in pocket watches. Chiming wristwatches made their come back at Audemars Piguet in the 1990s, following the revival of other classic complications in the aftermath of the quartz crisis.
The return of Grande Sonnerie mechanisms within Audemars Piguet’s offering was marked in the 1980s by the release of five masterpieces made by Philippe Dufour, a young independent and free-spirited watchmaker from the Vallée de Joux, whom the Manufacture supported for his talent and preservation of the region’s craftsmanship. These were followed in 1994 by the Manufacture’s first Grande Sonnerie wristwatch, a remarkable achievement for a calibre of 28.6 mm in diameter and 5.2 mm in thickness. 188 wristwatch calibres featuring a Grande Sonnerie were thereafter produced between 1995 and 2002.
Audemars Piguet reintroduced the Grande Sonnerie in 2020 and has been producing a trilogy every year since then in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection, each time exploring new creative directions that celebrate these highly sophisticated chiming complications.
“Born in Le Brassus, raised around the world.
Technical specifications
Front view of Calibre 2956. © Courtesy of Audemars Piguet
Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie / 41 mm
Ref. 26397NR.OO.D002KB.01
Functions
- Grand Sonnerie and Petite Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie, minute repeater, hours, minutes and small seconds.
Case
- Black ceramic case middle, 18-carat pink gold case, lugs, bezel and caseback, double curved glareproofed sapphire crystal, water resistant to 20 m.
- Case thickness: 13.5 mm
Dial
- Sapphire dial, hour markers that are gold around the outside with a black metallisation in the centre, 18-carat pink gold hands, semi-matt black opaline inner bezel.
Strap
- Black rubber-coated strap with pink gold coloured stitching, 18-carat pink gold AP folding clasp.
Movement Specifications
- Hand-Wound Calibre 2956
- Total diameter 29.9 mm (13 lignes)
- Total thickness 5.9 mm
- Number of jewels 53
- Number of parts 498
- Minimum power reserve guaranteed 48 h
- Frequency of balance wheel 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations/hour)
Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie / 41 mm
Ref. 26397QA.OO.D002KB.01
Functions
- Grand Sonnerie and Petite Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie, minute repeater, hours, minutes and small seconds.
Case
- Black ceramic case middle, 18-carat yellow gold case, lugs, bezel and caseback, double curved glareproofed sapphire crystal, water resistant to 20 m.
- Case thickness: 13.5 mm
Dial
- Sapphire dial, hour markers that are gold around the outside with a black metallisation in the centre, 18-carat yellow gold hands, semi-matt black opaline inner bezel.
Strap
- Black rubber-coated strap with yellow gold coloured stitching, 18-carat yellow gold AP folding clasp.
Movement Specifications
- Hand-Wound Calibre 2956
- Total diameter 29.9 mm (13 lignes)
- Total thickness 5.9 mm
- Number of jewels 53
- Number of parts 498
- Minimum power reserve guaranteed 48 h
- Frequency of balance wheel 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations/hour)
Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie / 41 mm
Ref. 26397NB.OO.D002KB.01
Functions
- Grand Sonnerie and Petite Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie, minute repeater, hours, minutes and small seconds.
Case
- Black ceramic case middle, 18-carat white gold case, lugs, bezel and caseback, double curved glareproofed sapphire crystal, water resistant to 20 m.
- Case thickness: 13.5 mm
Dial
- Sapphire dial, hour markers that are gold around the outside with a black metallisation in the centre, 18-carat white gold hands, semi-matt black opaline inner bezel.
Strap
- Black rubber-coated strap with white gold coloured stitching, 18-carat white gold AP folding clasp.
Movement Specifications
- Hand-Wound Calibre 2956
- Total diameter 29.9 mm (13 lignes)
- Total thickness 5.9 mm
- Number of jewels 53
- Number of parts 498
- Minimum power reserve guaranteed 48 h
- Frequency of balance wheel 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations/hour)
About Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet is the oldest fine watchmaking manufacturer still in the hands of its founding families (Audemars and Piguet). Based in Le Brassus since 1875, the company has nurtured generations of talented craftspeople who have continuously developed new skills and techniques, broadening their savoir-faire to set rule-breaking trends. In the Vallée de Joux, at the heart of the Swiss Jura, Audemars Piguet has created numerous masterpieces, testament to the Manufacture’s ancestral savoir-faire and forward-thinking spirit. Sharing its passion and savoir-faire with watch enthusiasts worldwide through the language of emotions, Audemars Piguet has established enriching exchanges among fields of creative practices and fostered an inspired community. Born in Le Brassus, raised around the world. — www.audemarspiguet.com