orangedial's detailed photo essay offers a captivating look into the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition in Singapore. His post serves as a valuable historical record, showcasing the event's unique atmosphere and the brand's dedication to celebrating its most iconic timepiece. Readers gain insight into the exhibition's artistic design and the rare opportunity to interact with AP watchmakers.
Set in the exotic venue of the historic Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition came to the last leg of its world tour in Singapore from 10 - 14 Oct 2012. Thanks to AP, Timezone and my AD, my partner and I were very fortunate to be invited to the cocktail receptions to witness and participate in the wonderful celebration of one of the most iconic horology creations in our time. Naturally, the highlight of the exhibition was the 100 iconic Royal Oak timepieces and invaluable memorabilia dating back to the beginning of the 70s. However, we were equally fascinated by the exciting atmosphere, artistic deco, and the wonderful cuisines and live performances. Of course, for a watch enthusiast, the best part for me was definitely the opportunity to interact with the watchmakers at the "Workshop"! Here are some pics, mostly taken by my iPhone 4S, to document my experience of the event. Enjoy!
1. It all started from here...
2. Invitation to the opening reception...
3. Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
4. Sebastien Leon Agneessens, the creative mind behind the overall design of the exhibition, created hundreds of tubular sticks of different heights to symbolise the forests of the valley and treated them as organ-like sound sculptures surrounding the exhibition area
5. Documenting the terrain of the Vallée de Joux at its stillest hours, photographer Dan Holdsworth has captured the ancient forests and glacial topography under the celestial presence of mist and moon to convey the extraordinary temporal significance vested in the landscape
6. Opening speech by Mr Bottinelli
7. A view of the main stage from the "Workshop"
8. Outdoor live performance at the railway platform area
9. Terrific atmosphere dining on the platform
10. Buffet station
11. A snapshot of my ROC
12. The very first AP RO circa 1972. Basically, iPhone was not quite capable to handle the extreme contrast of the spotlight-lit watches against the pitch-black background.
13. The AP Openworked Extra-Thin Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Limited Edition
14. Now, the most exciting part (to me!)... This is the engine-turned engraving machine which AP uses to make the tapiserie guilloché dials. According to Marc, the senior specialist from AP who was also the demonstrator, this is the 3rd generation machine that AP has been using. As explained by Marc, this machine is capable of producing a highly sophisticated guilloché motif in a relatively simple method as compared to the modern CNC machine, which require extremely complex programming to produce the same pattern.
15. The base dial, which is made of nickel silver, was set up and turned synchronously with the template discs. As the template discs turn, the carbide cutter would engrave the base dial with the patterns on the template discs. According to Marc, it takes about an hour to complete a dial. However, the success rate of producing a perfect dial is only about 60-70%. Marc further explained that this type of machine is specially used for making the "petite" and "grand" tapiserie dials. The "Mega" tapiserie dials in ROO are made by using stamping method.
16. Watchmaker Martin was demonstrating the assembly process of the 3120 movement
17. There were several acrylic blocks mounted on the workshop table to display the "exploded" view of the various parts of the Royal Oak. This one showcases the monobloc RO case, the octagonal bezel, the eight hexagonal WG screws, the crown and other components
18. The exploded view of the RO bracelet
19. The tapiserie dial, from a flat sheet to an iconic dial
20. The venerable 2121 movement in full monty...
21. Another view of the 2121, the thinnest automatic movement with a full rotor
22. Some goodies from the event: The RO book, a catalogue of the latest RO models (white cover), an ABC guide of Royal Oak from TimeWerke, and the RO designer chocolate!
23. This monster piece of chocolate was seriously delicious! It didn't last for more than 5 mins since the first bite was taken by my family...
So that's it! The unique experience was sealed neatly by the sweetness of the RO chocolate... what a thoughtful gift!
Thanks all for making this far!
Wayne
