Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Complication watch

The Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Complication wristwatch is one of the most complex mechanical timepieces ever created. A virtual summation of the watchmaker's art, this exquisite watch encapsulates the broad horlogical experience gained by Audemars Piguet through their more than 125 years of existence.

Within the classical, round platinum or 18K gold case of the Jules Audemars Grande Complication watch nestles the selfwinding Audemars Piguet 2885 Caliber. This mechanical masterpiece, which comprises 654 individual pieces, unites three of the most prestigious high complications in the art of haute horlogerie. First of all, the Grande Complication movement offers a perpetual mechanism which indicates day of the week, date, month, and the proper leap-year cycle, as well as a moonphase display. It also presents a split-seconds chronograph mechanism, the most difficult and technically elaborate of chronographs. This complication offers all the functionality of an ordinary chronograph, but with an added twist: it allows the measurement of a separate time interval, thanks to a secondary central chronograph hand which can be stopped independently of the main chronograph hand; by pressing the button which is co-axial with the Grande Complication watch's winding crown, the split-second hand instantly reunites with the main hand.

Significantly, the chronograph mechanism is governed by the traditional means of a column wheel and is fully integrated into the architecture of the movement. Last, but certainly not least, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Complication hosts a minute repeater. Perfected in the 19th century, the minute repeater requires an exceptionally complex arrangement of racks, cams, and snails, which are able to translate the position of the hands into a precise sequence of chimes, that indicate the time by hour, quarter hour, and finally, the individual minute. Remarkably, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Complication watch remains impressively low in height when considering the extraordinary intricacy of its movement. Each component inside the Grande Complication watch is finished by hand; steel parts are patiently drawn with a file, edges are rounded with anglage, counter-sunk jewel and screw settings are finely polished and the structure of bridges is decorated by hand with traditional Cotes de Geneve. This intricate micro-mechanical sculpture can be admired through the sapphire caseback of the watch, along with the massive solid gold rotor, which has been skeletonized and features intricate engravings, and the hand-carved Audemars Piguet initials.

The Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Complication watch's elegant 42mm case is crafted from 950 platinum or 18K gold; it displays a finely satin-brushed surface in conjunction with elegant polished accents on the bezel and caselugs. Each Grande Complication watch occupies an extremely skilled Audemars Piguet watchmaker for nearly a year; due to this labor intensive process, only a few such timepieces are produced by Audemars Piguet annually. For those who desire something of the ultimate exoticism, Audemars Piguet also offers the Jules Audemars Grande Complication watch in a stunningly beautiful skeletonized version, whose movement displays bridges reduced to their most minimal form, and then painstakingly engraved by hand with delicate patterns.