If you harbour enough interest in horology to be absorbing these words but have never made the pilgrimage to the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, now is the time to hike it to the top of your bucket list. To mark the occasion of its 150th anniversary, the brand is launching a new exhibition titled The House of Wonders, which will seriously enhance your visit.
For five years now, the story of how a manufacture founded by childhood friends Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet became one of horology’s Holy Trinity (alongside Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin), and the most decorated by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, has been brought to life by tours of this sublime, spiral-shaped architectural marvel – which nestles next to the brand’s original workshop in Le Brassus, and was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).
The spiral-shaped Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet reminiscing of a watch spring
The traditional tour involves a clockwise jaunt around the building, as if following the contours of a giant watch spring. At the centre of the spiral sits the Universelle: Audemars Piguet’s most complicated watch (think split-second chronograph, jumping seconds and deadbeat seconds, grande strike, minute repeater, alarm, perpetual calendar), which was made in 1899. As well as examining, close-up, tantalising pieces from the manufacture’s history, visitors can also see artisans engaged in satin brushing, circular graining and other artisanal activities associated with the brand.
The House of Wonders exhibition comprises seven stages in which visitors can learn in detail about not only the greatest watches in the history of Audemars Piguet, but also the men and women who made them possible.
The House of Wonders – an exhibition, running until 2026 – will further enrich that narrative over seven stages, embellishing the story with even richer detail about the men and women who have literally made Audemars Piguet tick over the years. There will also be masterclasses for children and adults, which enable participants to try their hand at movement and case assemblage as well as the decorative techniques which grace the likes of the Royal Oak, and an installation inspired by astronomy as well as horlogerie. Adapted versions of The House of Wonders will visit Shanghai in May and Dubai in November.
Also part of the 150th Anniversary celebrations are new novelties including exciting new Grande Sonnerie iterations of Code 11.59, new ceramic variants of the Royal Oak Offshore, and – naturally – a special edition Royal Oak: Gerald Genta’s stainless steel masterpiece, as if horolophiles need informing, which laid waste to the tenets of watch design when it was introduced in 1972.
Author: Nick Scott
Show Comments +