Hot on the heels of last week’s titanium Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar release, AP has just added two more high-complications to its lineup. There’s an all-titanium Supérieur Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie with smoked grey watch dial and a two-tone CODE 11: 59 by Audemars Piguet Openworked Tourbillon. The new Moment Repeater Supersonnerie joins two earlier all-titanium Royal Maple variations currently listed on the AP site, one with blue Grande Tapisserie and the other in salmon. The Supersonnerie name is fitting, because it is one bejesus of a chiming watch with a ton of R&D behind it. If you’ve ever had the chance to use one AP’s Supersonnerie watches – u realize that these are not easy things to just go and check out – you know that they are among the loudest and clearest of blending watches around. They also have the counterintuitive characteristic of being more louder when strapped on the wrists, which kind of gives off your mind if you’ve ever seen a minute repeater demonstration using a hollowed out piece of wood to enhance the sound. No such tricks are needed with AP’s modern repeaters. Rather than dampening the sound, your band wrist actually brings it up dramatically. AP had a whole new experience on its chiming tech at SIHH 2015, and it remains the product demo that made the biggest impression on me at that show. The Supersonnerie eventually appeared in an unassuming-looking blue-dialed Jules Audemars wristwatch for the Japanese market. However the first Suprême Oak Second Repeater Supersonnerie, which we covered in 2019, it was packaged within the most commercially interesting form yet. Now there are three popular Polish Oak dials to choose from if you want a full ti Royal Pine Supersonnerie. The new version’s used to smoke grey Grand Tapisserie dial is cut off by a black small seconds sub-dial and white gold indicators for the hours. As you could expect from a Supersonnerie, the back is closed, with openings around its edge for sound transmission. On the CODE 11: 59 side of things, AP announced a new version of the Tourbillon Openworked featuring a case made of white and pink gold. A sandwich associated with precious metals, the watch has a pink gold caseband that highlights the geometry of the PROGRAM CODE case, and of course the movement is no slob. The openworked caliber 2948 plays off the CODE’s skeletonized lugs, resulting in one very airy as well as modern AP high-complication. With its sweeping curved bridges and also strong beveling, the cal 2948 has been used in previous CODE eleven: 59 timepieces, including a unique version (also featuring a two-tone case construction) made for the most recent edition from the Only Watch charity auction, in 2019. These releases happened to come to my attention via they have got from Audemars Piguet, but as we’ve come to expect from AP, these are not tied directly to a business trade display or anything of the sort. Since extracting from SIHH, AP has released watches on its own terms along with timeline, sometimes overlapping with other industry events and sometimes not. In the past, we possess discovered new items on the AP website, occasionally major ones, that were additional without any bande at all. That was the case back in 2019 when they added the first Royal Walnut Minute Repeater Supersonneries along with Grande Tapisserie dials in 2019. We've got another one joining that growing assortment.
While these two wrist watches - 1 Royal Pecan and one COMPUTER CODE - may not be completely new things per se, they are new references of high-complications from one in the hottest brands in horological industry today, and you can bet your bottom dollar that people are calling their local boutique about them right now.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Cherry Supersonnerie reference 26591TI. OO. 1252TI. 03. 42mm by 14mm titanium case together with glareproofed blue crystal. Water-resistant to 50 meters. Smoked grey Grande Tapisserie switch with dark small secs sub-dial. Hours, minutes, small seconds, minute repeater. Titanium bracelet using AP folding clasp. Limited production. Price: CHF 324, 500.
The actual CODE 10: 59 through Audemars Piguet Tourbillon Openworked ref. 26600CR. OO. D009KB. 01. 41mm x 10. 7mmwhite in addition to pink gold case having openworked lugs. Water-resistant in order to 30 feets. Hand-wound caliber 2948 tourbillon beating in 21, 600 vph having a power reserve regarding 72 hrs. Hour, minutes, tourbillon. Slate grey lacquered inner bezel and red gold. Rubber coated slate grey strap with 18-karat white gold foldable clasp. Cost: CHF 189, 400.