Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 chronograph
In-depth understanding of the Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 chronograph: “Take me to meet your leader” When the Code 11.59 series was launched in January 2019, it was as if we went to a restaurant called Le Controverse, sat down and ordered the Controverse appetizer with the Controverse Flambé main course and additional sauce Controverse Grand-Mère Ancienne Zunda is by his side, and drinks, naturellement, several large bottles of Grande table wine Audemars Piguet Premier Grand Controverse 2019.
Although the limited-time version of Code received the harshest criticism from the start, the complex watches in the series are somewhat mitigated by their complexity and undeniable mechanical execution complexity. After all, these watches are a deliberate provocation—François-Henry Bennahmias is certainly not trying to please the bourgeoisie, but he certainly seems to be trying to please someone, even if only at the beginning The Associated Press fan corps, more and more directly, wants to know if AP has not become a one-trick pony.
At least from a technical point of view, the company’s answer to the last question was a resounding “no”. At the time of launch, 13 watches were equipped with 6, number 6, new movement. We got a new perpetual calendar, a new Supersonnerie minute repeater, a new automatic tourbillon, a new automatic movement, and perhaps the most impressive is a new self-winding three-register chronograph.
Many years ago, when Cartier launched the then brand-new series of advanced complications in the Haute Watchmaking series, I was in La Chaux-de-Fonds and I had the opportunity to meet the awesome Carol Forestier, who was in Throughout her process in the past 20 years, many of the most interesting tourbillons have been involved in their careers, and they came up with the design that eventually became Ulysse Nardin Freak. I asked her if she thought the tourbillon was more difficult to design than the chronograph, and she snorted, and it was immediately clear that I was basically asking Robert Parker if I could add ice to the oak Chardonnay. quality replica watches
“Chronograph,” she said, “it’s much more difficult. Tourbillon, it’s nothing compared to the chronograph challenge.” She didn’t actually say stupid, but she didn’t need to.
That is to say, although the conversation about Code quickly changed from left to derogation, there is a lot of watchmaking content behind the split design, and many of them are at the intersection of solid functional watchmaking and fine watchmaking. Clocks. New workhorse movements are rare, especially at the haute horlogerie level (Patek Philippe’s new manual-winding movement 30-255 is an example of a new high-end manual-winding chronograph movement, which is very unusual-its predecessor It has been around since the 1970s, and the AP movement 2020/21 was born in the Royal Oak Jumbo in the 1960s). The 4401 movement in the new AP Code 11.59 chronograph-two new models have just been released recently, with a ceramic case in the middle-is a very modern interpretation of classic complications, with very modern engineering and very unconventional The aesthetics back it up.
Although a complete technical analysis of the movement is beyond the scope of this article, for those who are interested in a real in-depth understanding, I strongly recommend the disassembly on The Naked Watchmaker. In short, however, what we have is a vertical clutch, three-speed movement, designed to run as trouble-free as possible, from the automatic winding system to the chronograph, to the basic walking system and escapement.
When the movement is peeled off to the main board, it is very interesting to see the layers fall off. The self-winding chronograph is built on multiple levels. At the top, you have the rotor and self-winding bridge, including reverse wheels that allow the rotor to wind the mainspring in both directions. The rotor runs in ceramic ball bearings. Audemars Piguet fake
If you learn more about the hammers and springs that reset the chronograph to zero, you will find that all three hammers and their operating springs are the same, and they are all activated by a single lever-in the same way, a reliable system can also reduce potential Troublesome variability in components that is usually found in more traditionally designed chronographs. The control system is a classic column wheel design, although even here, the tooth profile of the column wheel does not seem to provide an aesthetic experience, but to optimize reliability and reduce friction.
The finish is not as elaborate as you would find in a simple high-end movement, in which the decoration is the purpose in itself. For example, Dufour Simplicity or Eichi II are simple watches. In these watches, what is important is the display of the movement as an angle, a polished counterbore, a carefully polished screw, etc., and the display of a mechanical device is very important itself. However, the Code 11.59 chronograph is not suitable for the display of classic haute horology, but emphasizes the geometry and angle of the movement. The decoration of the movement in the Code 11.59 Chronograph is dazzling because of its thoroughness-hardly any surfaces or bevels are left untouched-and, in terms of style, it blends with the design of the case and dial.
The case is a huge structure with thick walls and is fastened together by screws. The screws pass through the middle of the case from the back of the watch and into the bezel, fixing the whole thing together. AP is proud that the manual finishing applied to the case is as fine as the finishing applied to the movement. In fact, it is easy for the eyes to flow from the sharp edges of the winding rotor to the clear geometry of the movement. Brushed and polished sides of lugs and upper case. You feel as if you are walking, not through the centuries-old layered complexity found in certain castles and palace complexes, but through a single structure designed as a unique and compelling experience-Taj Mausoleum, rather than a slow-growing structure in Windsor Palace. http://www.chrono4usale.co
Regardless of your overall feeling about the Code 11.59 case design, I think it’s hard to deny that the ceramic case has a very attractive update to the original design. It makes the whole thing visually lighter and more elegant, while actually emphasizing the level of completion and complex geometry of the entire case.
This is a weird watch worn on the wrist. I’m not entirely sure if I will get used to it, but it doesn’t seem like a watch that the designer has considered this in the first place. It has characteristics that look very different from different angles. From the front, it seems too introverted and minimalist, but when you rotate it, the double-curved sapphire crystal begins to produce the visual illusion of flying buttresses, the case structure becomes more obvious, and you almost feel as if someone is passing some kind of Clock skills changed the watch on you.
This is a contradictory work. The case and movement finishes borrow the classic Geneva finish vocabulary. The geometric shape has the harsh edges and corners of the original Royal Oak (and echoes with its geometric shape), but takes the extremes that Gérald Genta never dreamed of, I believe he will hate seeing-his love of purity and his original design are well known Yes, even its relatively mild evolution represented by Offshore aroused his indignation. However, the DNA of the Royal Oak allows a new species to evolve, which we should have expected a long time ago. It’s been a long time since 1972.
However, the Code 11.59 chronograph is an interesting watch. Code collection is not easy. You have to spend a lot of time on the watch to start to understand the purpose of AP, even now I don’t believe that they can clearly and successfully connect all the points you want to connect.
But I find them very charming. Are they a failed experiment? I do not think so. By definition, an experiment is neither a success nor a failure. What it should be, it’s interesting-it should show us something we might not know before. After Code, I think the appearance of the Royal Oak will no longer be the same. This is a cool design and classic, but it also has a history of nearly fifty years, and AP should have tried new things long ago. The company’s motto is to break the rules, and you must master them first. AP’s institutional knowledge of all aspects of fine watchmaking matches the knowledge of any other fine watchmaking brand in the world, and they will not use it to recreate the past. They use it to build a bridge to the future, and the end of the bridge is not yet clear.
I think when building a new future, companies sometimes reject too much past. But I am emotional. You will not reach today’s AP just by upgrading the respect of Jules Audemars’s equation of time. My feeling for Code 11.59 is like the feeling of people on earth in the 1950s science fiction movies, the first pioneer to see the stars appearing in the night sky. I don’t know what will happen next, but I know it will be different-the world, or at least, the AP watch world, will never be the same.
Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 chronograph, reference number. 26393NR.OO.A002KB.01. Case, red gold and ceramic, 41 mm x 12.6 mm. 30 meters waterproof. Double-curved sapphire crystal (inner surface of the dome; curved vertically from 12:00 to 6:00. Smoked gray dial, vertical satin finish, rose gold applied hour markers, rose gold hands, rose gold three-dimensional Audemars Piguet logo. Machine Movement, AP 4401 movement, flyback chronograph with time and date, small seconds. 70-hour power reserve, automatic winding, 40 jewels, 28,800 vph.