Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet is a Swiss watchmaker headquartered in Le Brassus, in the Vallée de Joux. Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet started the business in 1875, and Audemars Piguet & Cie was formally founded in 1881. The company has been owned by the founding families since the start.

Its best-known watch is the Royal Oak, designed by Gérald Genta and introduced in 1972, a sports watch with an integrated steel bracelet that is often described as the first luxury sports watch. The larger Royal Oak Offshore, designed by Emmanuel Gueit for the Royal Oak's 20th anniversary, followed. Earlier work includes a minute-repeating movement in 1892, a skeleton watch in 1934 and the 1986 Calibre 2870, an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon. Today the company makes high-end mechanical watches, from time-only models to complicated pieces.