The Audemars Piguet Universelle Code 11.59 is Astounding

Audemars Piguet Universelle Code 11.59

Le Brassus, Switzerland based Audemars Piguet unveils its first ultra-complicated self-winding timepiece (RD#4) in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet series.

The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4 is an homage to L'Universelle, one of the most intricate pocket watches ever created by the Manufacture. It was designed with ergonomics in mind and provides great comfort and ease of usage. The watch is equipped with the self-winding Calibre 1000, which has more than 1,100 parts.

This revolutionary mechanism contains 40 functions and 23 complications, including a Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie, a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar, a split-seconds flyback chronograph, and a flying tourbillon. It is the result of three generations of R&D advances.

It took the Audemars Piguet team almost seven years to create the RD#4 watch.

With its double-curved sapphire crystal, extra-thin bezel, stylized lugs, octagonal case centre, and round caseback, the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is one of the most intricate cases ever created by the Swiss watchmaker. The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4 pushes the boundaries of its multidimensional casing.

Six easy-to-use crowns and pushers are evenly distributed around the centre of the casing. Additionally, the watch contains a "hidden" gold caseback that enhances the watch's acoustic performance when worn.

Once the new Supersonnerie sapphire soundboard is opened, the mechanism's aesthetics may be examined. The addition of Calibre 1000 has also resulted in a minor increase in the diameter and thickness of the watch (42 mm x 15.55 mm) relative to previous models in the collection.

The angular and rounded features of the case have been hand-finished with the Manufacture's signature satin brushing and polished chamfers.

Audemars Piguet provides four variants of the 18-karat white or rose gold watch. The first timepiece has an 18-karat white gold case, opaline black galvanic gold display, inner bezel, and luminescent chronograph counters. The tourbillon cage at 6 o'clock reflects the light grey exterior zones of the chronograph counters as well as the zone surrounding the dial, where the minute track and Swiss Made indicator have been moved. There are white gold applied hour markers and hands, as well as a galvanic growth applied Audemars Piguet signature.

The second reference combines a casing of 18-karat white gold with an opaline beige PVD gold dial embellished with black chronograph counters and a black exterior zone onto which the pink minute track and Swiss Made indicator have been moved. The 18-karat pink gold hour markers and hands are complemented by the pink-gold-toned balancing wheel visible through the flying tourbillon cage.

The chronograph and calendar features on the dials of the two references have been grouped for optimal readability. The day and month windows, placed immediately above the hour-markers at 9 and 3 o'clock, have been superimposed over the chronograph's circular minute and hour counters. The mix of circular and angular geometries on the dial gently evokes the intricate engineering of the case of the Code 11.59 from Audemars Piguet.

In addition, the Manufacture introduces two references that reveal the hand-finished components of Calibre 1000 on the dial side. Two clocks with 18-karat white or pink gold cases and sculptural dials with gold openworked bridges and black accents. A grey zone in the middle of the partly openworked black chronograph counters displays the day and month.