Audemars Piguet

Overview of APNA's visit to the Audemars Piguet Manufacture

 

Along with two other guests, I was very fortunate to have been invited by my regular boutique to visit the Audemars Piguet facilities in Le Brassus and Le Locle, Switzerland.  The majority of the trip's activities happened over a very busy 2 day period.  Day one had us in the Vallee de Joux to see where it all began and where it continues today, and day 2 moved us to Le Locle to visit the workshop of Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi.

It was cool and rainy on the first day.  It added to the mystery as we made our way North from Geneva and eventually turned off the highway and headed into the mountains.  Back and forth we wound as we climbed.  In some ways it reminded me of roads I have driven in the Colorado mountains, but Switzerland is quite a bit more lush.  Beautiful country.

Eventually we came around a corner and descended down into Le Brassus.  Keen eyes could immediately spot the newest manufacturing facility.  We were taken to the Hotel des Horlogers, conveniently located just down the street from the AP buildings.  After checking in, the essence of the journey began.  We were warmly greeting by AP's Director of Hospitality, Michel Golay, and made the short walk over to the main AP building on the street, which had been added to several times over the last 100+ years.

An American flag flew in honor of our visit.  Pure class by AP.  Of course, this trait is never a surprise but rather the norm with how the company goes about things.

We continued on to the location of the AP Museum and restoration workshop, both located in the original Audemars house.

We were not allowed to shoot photos inside of the museum.  Michel provided us with an amazing walk through the history of not only AP but watchmaking as a whole in the Vallee de Joux.  His presentation was amazing.  Michel is a very engaging individual, and had us in heavy laughter throughout the visit.  An incredible asset to the brand.

The restoration workshop sits in the very room where Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet worked together some 135+ years before.  I feel the details of this special workshop require their own post, and I will follow up with that shortly.

We were running a bit behind schedule and walked back to the hotel for lunch.  Along the way, we saw the newest extension of the original AP building, which began operations in 2003.  At the time, it was expected to suffice for years, but of course the high demand for Audemars Piguet would necessitate the construction of another manufacturing facility.

That facility is perhaps 1/2 mile or so away from the other buildings.  It is quite a pleasant walk.

Getting close...

And the Modern Mothership.  Inaugurated in 2009, the environmentally friendly facility houses many workers and many different departments.  It is a super cool building, very high tech.  Every detail was explored in design for the impact on the environment.  Sustainable materials have been utilized, energy requirements have been minimized, etc.  It is quite beautiful in person

We spent a fair amount of time here.  As Noah pointed out in his post a few days ago, everyone at AP - all of the workers, staff, etc. - were beyond receptive and friendly.  I remembered wondering if they maybe get tired of visitors coming through.  Certainly they do not.  Whenever we peered over the shoulder of someone who was working on a movement part or dial detail or casing procedure, they always invited us to have a closer look.  They would hand us loupes and explain what they were doing.  They also demonstrated watch complications on such pieces.  Of course, our master guide Michel Golay made sure to point everything out, and did a wonderful job of explaining everything.

If that were not enough, when we finished at the main manufacturing building, we returned to the primary offices and were greeted by Octavio Garcia.  Jasmine Bapic, Retail Director for AP, had kindly requested Octavio to sign our new 2013-2014 catalogs (wait until you see these by the way, AWESOME) at lunch.  He insisted on completing a sketch for each of us, and as Noah detailed, he presented those to us.  As it turned out, we were in the "Royal Oak" conference room at the time.  It was an incredible gesture, and a continuation of the red carpet treatment we had been given throughout the day.

To really maximize the time before heading to dinner, Michel graciously offered to bring us back to the Museum, which had not been on our schedule, to finish the remaining rooms we had missed earlier in the day.

It was an amazing glimpse into where it all began and how it is all done.

Next up will be a detailed report on the visit to APR&P in Le Locle.

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