Audemars Piguet has certainly had to weather its share of guff from brand fans after the 2019 introduction of the controversial Code 11:59 collection, which was to unify AP aesthetic concepts from the classical and post-Royal Oak era in one daring swoop. While initials pans were heavy and overwhelming, the design has really begun to find its feet as the collection has grown in size and scope. Even some early detractors of the Code 11:59 have admitted that the design has endeared itself to them, once they began to accept that this was not merely some cheaply conceived, slapstick hybrid of a Royal Oak and a Jules Audemars case. My own feelings have softened too, and while I never disliked the Code 11:59, it didn’t exactly resonate with me at first blush. That said, once I came to stop comparing it to the iconic Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore, I realized that Audemars Piguet had created another icon for itself, an icon that—perhaps more than any other before it—was not just good, but perhaps the ultimate framework for the highest complications in the watchmaking stratosphere. (The sort of special watches that AP is exceedingly good at making!) Let’s take a quick look at a few of these Code 11:59 collection superstars, to consider that possibility.
Seen in both photos above, the Code 11:59 Perpetual Calendar is one of the most overtly romantic of the choices. A mechanical watch that goes far beyond the basics of hours and minutes, you’ll be appraised of the day, date, month, calendar week, and even the leap year cycle, the complex mechanism within making automatic adjustments for the varying length of months all without any intervention on your part. While it may be mathematically calculable, there’s a sense of wonder behind all that’s going on in any perpetual calendar, which reaches far beyond the mundane. And with that said, that’s where the architectural and aesthetic elements of this watch take it to another level: the dial in glittering dark blue aventurine glass suggest the infinite reaches of space, and the starry playing field upon which our planet’s cycles play out. And, more specifically, the complex components of the 11:59 case in 18-karat pink gold evoke a futuristic bridge of sorts, perhaps a spaceship or vessel for our hopes and dreams, upon which everything is realized, or sought, at very least. I find it an awesome concept for the classical perpetual calendar mechanism, and one made even better by the slender self-winding (2120 based) legend that ticks inside– assuring you of the finest in earthly craftsmanship and expertise…all naturally visible through the Code 11:59 caseback.
Next up is the mechanically delicious Flying Tourbillon Chronograph, pictured just below. A marvel of 479 hand-finished parts, this is one of the newest additions to the Code 11:59 family, and surely one of its most technically gifted. What makes it particularly gorgeous, amidst the obvious virtuosity of the 2952 mechanism itself, is the extensive yet modernistic open-working of the mechanism which Audemars Piguet has achieved to allow open exploration of the caliber’s refined chronograph and tourbillon mechanisms in all of that hand burnished glory.
The caliber is a delight, to say the absolute least, yet the curvaceous and equally modern curves and swoops of the bridges and their gleaming parts gain all the much more mystique when framed against the intricate finishes and complex construction of the 41mm Code 11:59 case in white gold, as well as the vertically curved sapphire crystal which plays with our perceptions. Predominantly brushed, the Code 11:59 nonetheless has many nuanced areas where gleaming bevels play with the light, and they both match with and tastefully contrast against the structural beauty of the impressive AP caliber inside. Again, the movement is beyond wondrous, but it is again that case which makes it unforgettable in a sea of other very fine movements, complications, and competitive brands. Even the finest singer needs a great stage, you might say, and with watches like this, the Code has become a veritable Carnegie Hall.
Speaking of music, as an ultimate finale in this set, it would be impossible to overlook the wondrous Code 11:59 Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie, a chiming watch set to be produced in a series of just five (yes, five!) watches. The name of this reference is certainly a mouthful, but for a creation of this “symphonic” level of complexity, not in any way out of line. Beyond the immensely intricate forest of cams, snails, racks, and levers that animate the selective hour or hour and quarter hour chiming of this watch–all hand finished before meticulous assembly and adjustment by a master AP watchmakers–you have the exceptional futurism of the 11:59 case, contrasted against one of the rarest and most beautiful of enameling specialties for the dial. You see, the dial is a unique creation of the world renowned master enameler Anita Porchet, and shows off the spectacular technique of paillonné enamel. This technique, worthy of an article all its own, involves the kiln firing of successive layers of colored enamel with the additional application and affixing of golden elements (the paillons) to form a design, a design protected below a final shimmering coat of polished lacquer that preserves it for perpetuity. So, in one watch you have an ancient and difficult art realized by one of the greatest masters to walk the planet, an incredible movement that challenges the very boundaries of what the most skilled watchmakers can create, and a daring yet somehow sympathetic case design that ties it all together. In total, a horological delight to every sense we possess, and a supreme union of past traditions and future directions for luxury watches.
And that I suppose, is what lies at the heart of the Code 11:59’s potential as Audemars Piguet strives forward. The design succeeds in its intent: it does in fact borrow effectively from elements seen in classical watch designs, and the now-adored but once scandalous sculptural angularity of the Royal Oak. Each perspective, despite their seeming incompatibility, oddly enhances the other in some way, and creates an opportunity–however strange it may be at first–to appreciate traditional as well as more avant garde design approaches. While the AP Code may seem a bit overpowering and even alienating in the simplest and most conservative iterations, when complex mechanisms and bold or artistic dials enter the picture, it suddenly becomes a powerful framework to generate anticipation and appreciation of the exceptional.
