Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch

The Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch unites two of the most celebrated and virtuoso complications in watchmaking, within a classically elegant design. Since its founding in 1875, Audemars Piguet has dedicated itself to the highest level of execution in the creation of its watches, as well as pursuing the great, classical complications which captivate collectors and connoisseurs.

Of the complications favored by collectors, none are more sought after than the tourbillon and the minute repeater. The former, invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet at the turn of the 19th century represents an ingenious solution to the effects of gravity upon a vertically-oriented (i.e. pocketwatches) watch escapement; with the balance wheel and the escapement contained within a rotating carriage which continuously revolves, the tourbillon brilliantly offset this problem. Since that time, the tourbillon has come to represent a great challenge to the most skilled of watchmaker's since its minute and extremely intricate construction demands the utmost in dexterity and technique. Like the tourbillon, the minute repeater complication also reached its greatest fame in the 19th century, being a refinement of earlier repeating mechanisms. The extraordinary mechanism of the minute repeater is able to provide, mechanically, an aural indication of the time, with hours, quarter hours, and individual minutes represented by distinctive chimes.

Each Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch is crafted from 950 platinum, 18K gold, or even titanium, an unusual material for such an exquisitely complicated watch, but an outstanding one, due to its optimal acoustic qualities in amplifying the sound of the chime. Each case is given exquisite finishing, with brushed surfaces on the sides of the case and contrasting polished elements on the caselugs and bezel; additionally, they have been carefully designed to allow the tones produced by the gongs to sound clearly and with excellent volume. Equipped with a sapphire caseback, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch invites the viewer to admire its exquisite manually wound movement, which has been beautifully refined with hand-executed Cotes de Geneve finishing, and anglage polishing on the edges of the bridges.

When the slide lever on the side of the case is activated, the precise movements of the highly polished minute-repeater hammers can be observed as they strike the gongs which sound out the time: the hours are indicated with a low note, the quarter-hours with a high-low combination, and finally the individual minutes ring out with individual high notes. The dial of this exceptional Audemars Piguet timepiece, accented with striking guilloche patterns, and polished gold Roman numerals and leaf hands, displays an aperture at six o'clock which presents the beauty of the one-minute tourbillon to its best potential, mounted on a hand-polished steel bridge. Each Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Minute Repeater Tourbillon watch is completed by a fine hand-sewn, remborded crocodile strap that fastens to the wrist with a deployant buckle shaped in the graceful form of the Audemars Piguet initials.