AUDEMARS PIGUET – ROYAL OAK Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Edition

 

AUDEMARS PIGUET – ROYAL OAK Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” 41mm Сeramic Edition  2023

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet unveils a new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked limited edition in collaboration with brand and label Cactus Jack, founded by American hip hop artist Travis Scott. This 41 mm model is crafted in brown ceramic – a first for Audemars Piguet. The sapphire dial provides a glimpse of the openworked selfwinding perpetual calendar movement, Calibre 5135. 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

To celebrate this collaboration, a number of design elements refer to Cactus Jack’s graphics, while parts of the dial, including the moon phase indication, are endowed with a luminescent coating that glows blue or green in the dark in a nod to the brand’s aesthetic codes. 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Combining classic complication with contemporary material, this limited edition illustrates Audemars Piguet’s free and daring spirit, as well as its ability to push back the boundaries of watchmaking and create strong links with fields of creative practice over the years.

THE ENCOUNTER OF SEVERAL UNIVERSES

Audemars Piguet has always fostered creative synergies with different universes, including sport, pop culture, art and entertainment. Thanks to its collaboration with personalities such as Jay-Z (2005) and LeBron James (2013), the Manufacture has strengthened its links to pop culture since the early 2000s. AP has since become one of the most quoted brands in rap songs. 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Today, the Le Brassus watchmaker has teamed up with Cactus Jack to design this new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Limited Edition, which bears the aesthetic codes of the two brands.

NICKNAMED "THE CHOCOLATE AP" BY TRAVIS SCOTT

Audemars Piguet presents its first Royal Oak model in brown ceramic – a signature colour for Cactus Jack. This light and scratch resistant material can be admired on the watch’s 41 mm case and bracelet studs.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Ceramic is made from yttrium-stabilised Zirconium Oxide powder (Zr2O), which is combined with a binder and metal oxides that will give it its final chocolate colour once the ceramic has been sintered at over 1000°C. Achieving uniform colour is a delicate and crucial stage in the manufacturing process. Each component is then pre-polished and pre-satin-brushed before being finished by hand to reach the Manufacture’s trademark alternation of satin-brushed surfaces and polished chamfers.  

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO

 “The chocolate AP,” as Travis Scott likes to call it in his latest album, features white gold hexagonal screws as well as a sapphire dial revealing the openworked architecture of Calibre 5135. This movement combines rhodium-toned components with pink-gold-toned hues subtly echoing the thin circle surrounding the day, month and date subdials respectively located at 9, 12 and 3 o’clock. 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

 The subdials also play on transparency so as to reveal part of the movement. The hour, minute and counters hands, like the hour-markers inserted within the seconds scale, are crafted in gold and covered with brown PVD before being filled with a white luminescent material that turns blue in the dark. The red arrow-shaped hand indicating the week accentuates legibility in day light.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

To celebrate this collaboration with Cactus Jack, numerous design elements reference the brand’s graphics. The Audemars Piguet Design team has specially designed the typography of the calendar and week indications based on Travis Scott’s hand-drawn model. Even the hand of the day subdial takes on the shape of the brand’s logo. But, the most visible nod is the design of the moon phase at 6 o’clock. 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO

The usual representation of Earth’s natural satellite has been replaced by Cactus Jack’s emblematic smiley face with its mouth sewn shut, whose luminescent coating glows blue in the dark. In contrast, the other calendar indications, with the exception of the week indication, are endowed with a luminescent material that turns green at night for a unique luminous effect.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO

A new textured calfskin leather strap makes its debut for the occasion, while the pink gold folding clasp is engraved with the signatures of “Audemars Piguet” and “Travis Scott”. Lastly, the caseback is engraved with “Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar,” “Limited Edition of 200 Pieces” and “Utopia is a state of mind” in reference to Travis Scott’s latest album. This mention also appears printed on one of the strap’s mobile loops.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO   

"Watchmaking, to me, is the ultimate combo of engineering, fashion, tech and design—a harmony of precision, craftsmanship and perfect timing. I approached this collaboration similar to sampling or starting a beat, taking inspiration from classics while introducing innovation to push them into the future. I'm beyond amped about the results, a first ever for the iconic Royal Oak. For it to be my brother Francois' final project as CEO of AP makes it even more epic - we are sending him out with a Mega fucking epic mic drop … LETTTSSSSS GOOOOOO.”
Travis Scott
Artist and Founder of Cactus Jack

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

AN OSCILLATING WEIGHT SIGNED “CACTUS JACK”

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Limited Edition is powered by the selfwinding Calibre 5135. The movement automatically takes into account the number of days in the month and correctly displays the prevailing date even in leap years. Assuming the watch is kept fully wound, the date will not require manual correction until 2100, at which point it will need to be adjusted in order to stay in line with the Gregorian calendar.*

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

The brown ceramic and sapphire caseback reveals the refined decorations adorning the movement including circular satin, satin brushing, sandblasting, sunray brushing and polished chamfers. The stamped openworked 22-carat pink gold oscillating weight is finished with satin brushing and polished chamfers. It is also engraved with the double “Audemars Piguet” and “Cactus Jack” signatures. The Cactus Jack logo, which appears in the centre of the oscillating weight, brings the final touch to this collaboration at the crossroads of diverse universes.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

* The Gregorian calendar omits three leap years every 400 years to remain in line with solar time. This is achieved by omitting February 29 in the century years which are divisible by 100, but not by 400. As a result, 2100 will not be a leap year and perpetual calendar mechanisms will have to be moved forward by one day.

“Seek Beyond.”

----------------------------------------
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
 

Model: Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Edition

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO  

 Ref. 26585CM.OO.D301VE.01

MOVEMENT
Selfwinding Calibre 5135
Total diameter 29 mm (12 ¾ lignes)
Total thickness 4.5 mm
Number of jewels 38
Number of parts 374
Minimum guaranteed power reserve 40 hours
Frequency of balance wheel 2.75 Hz (19,800 vibrations/hour)
FUNCTIONS
Perpetual calendar with week indication, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year, hours and
minutes.
CASE
Case, bezel and screw-locked crown in brown ceramic, brown ceramic and glareproofed sapphire
caseback, glareproofed sapphire crystal
Diameter: 41 mm
Thickness: 9.9 mm
Titanium and glareproofed sapphire caseback
Water-resistant to 20 m.
DIAL
Sapphire dial, subdials with pink gold frame and calendar indications with luminescent coating
glowing green in the dark  – number 31 in the counter at 3 o’clock turning blue at night – applied gold hour-markers and Royal Oak hands endowed with brown PVD and luminescent coating turning blue in the dark, brown inner bezel.
BRACELET
Brown calfskin leather strap with textured jeans effect, pink gold folding clasp engraved with the
double “Audemars Piguet” and “Travis Scott” signatures.

🔴 Price:  178, 000 CHF 💰

🔰 Limited edition of 200 pieces

 ---------------------------------
Press Release - 2023
---------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
Audemars Piguet (Marketing) SA
Route de France 16 - Case postale 16
1348 Le Brassus - Switzerland
Phone : + 41 21 642 39 00
Fax : + 41 21 642 34 02
--------------------------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - Audemars Piguet
------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.AudemarsPiguet.com

Jaquet Droz – DRAGON Automaton Sapphire Lapis Lazuli - Unique piece

Jaquet Droz – ATELIERS D'ART DRAGON Automaton Sapphire Lapis Lazuli 45mm Edition - Unique piece 2023

Jaquet Droz takes personalization to new heights

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Two years ago, Jaquet Droz unveiled one of the most complex automatons ever produced for a wristwatch: the Dragon Automaton, featuring sixteen moving parts and nine animations. Now, Jaquet Droz has gone further still in terms of sophistication and difficulty by adding a sapphire crystal case and a lapis lazuli dial – a stunning feat for what is well and truly a unique piece.

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

When the ‘John Howe’ Dragon Automaton was unveiled, some saw it as the last word on the subject: the piece seemed to mark the final destination of a long creative journey with the famed artistic designer for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Now it’s clear that it was in fact a starting-point. Over the next two years, in the seclusion of its Ateliers d’Art in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Jaquet Droz strove to draw Art and Watchmaking still closer together, revisiting the canons of both to produce a new blend of creative disruption.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

The symbol of the Dragon goes back thousands of years, spanning every era, continent, and culture; Jaquet Droz has taken it up here, reproducing the sacred beast in grey gold. Each part of the dragon’s body has been handsculpted and then polished and individually engraved to detail scales, claws, and more.

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

From the depths of the earth, Jaquet Droz has also wrested a dial made from a single piece of lapis lazuli. While this is not an especially rare stone, a piece this large, this uniform and devoid of cracks is – even more so in a sliver less than one millimetre thick that has been worked on without it being chipped or broken. The longstanding experience of Jaquet Droz Artisans in mineral arts thus offers the Dragon a backdrop of a rare intensity – a stage on which it performs for the best part of fifteen seconds.

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

The audacity of this Dragon Automaton piece resides in the way Jaquet Droz has encapsulated this knowhow and the ancient symbols it depicts in a highly contemporary showcase made entirely of sapphire crystal – a glass box like no other, with a diameter of 45 millimetres. The sapphire crystal case is fully watertight, despite a total absence of screws or inserts. None are needed: Jaquet Droz has used a process of which it alone holds the secret to fit the case together to within the nearest micron.

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

While the case design required extensive research, a whole new set of technical specifications were needed, too: the original Dragon Automaton was designed to be fully enclosed in a gold case. New tolerances, new finishes, and most importantly new anchor points for the movement had to be devised to suit its new sapphire crystal housing. Unprecedented components were invented and a large number of prototypes developed to ensure nothing would trouble the sheer transparency of the crystal.

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

To highlight the contemporary nature of the piece, Jaquet Droz suggests mounting its lapis lazuli Dragon Automaton on a blue rubber strap matching the lapis lazuli on the dial. That is just a suggestion, though: ultimately, it will be up to the future owner of the unique piece to decide on its externals and engravings.

  “Some watches tell time, some tell a story.”

---------------------------------------------
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection  ATELIERS D'ART

Model:  DRAGON Automaton Sapphire Lapis Lazuli Edition

Reference : Sapphire 45  

 Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO    Reference        J0327370021 Movement Jaquet Droz 6150, self-winding mechanical movement, silicon balance spring and pallet horns, flat bridges, 18-karat white gold oscillating weight with JH signature and black treatment. Automaton with animation of different parts of the dragon, push-button automaton triggering mechanism.   Functions/Indications Off-centered hours and minutes Mechanical automaton with 9 different animated elements of the dragon: the crest moves, the mouth opens, the tongue comes out, the eye opens and closes, the dorsal section and tail undulate, the dragon's foot moves up and down towards the ball, the ball spins on itself. The animation cycle lasts 10 to 15 seconds. Jewelling 78 rubies for the automaton movement + 29 rubies for the hour and minute movement Power reserve 38 hours Frequency 21,600 v.p.h.(3 Hz)   Case Sapphire case. Customization, identified as a unique piece by a hand-engraving on the case-back. Diameter 43 mm Height 16.96 mm. Water resistance To 3 bar (30 meters) Dial Openworked dial in lapis-lazuli. Hand-engraved dragon appliques in 18-karat white gold. Hand-painted steel eye and tongue Labradorite ball Hands 18-karat white gold Strap Blue rubber strap Buckle 18-karat white gold folding clasp

🔰  Limited Edition  to Unique only 1 pieces

🔴 Price: CHF 490'000 (incl. taxes)💰

=====================----- Press Release - 2023 ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- MONTRES JAQUET DROZ SA Allée du Tourbillon 2 CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds 2 · press@jaquet-droz.com tel +41 32 924 28 72 · fax +41 (0)32 924 28 82 ----------------------------------------------------------- www.facebook.com - Jaquet.Droz ---------------------------------------------------------------- www.Jaquet-Droz.com