At the Forefront of Haute Horlogerie: CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet

For the first time in the Swiss luxury watchmaker's history, Audemars Piguet has presented a model that combines a chronograph with a flying tourbillon, the first of its kind in the Code 11.59 collection which debuted last year.

When the Code 11.59 family made its first public appearance at SIHH-2019, the collection became the subject of much heated debate. Not all fans of Royal Oak's iconic octagonal bezel conceived by the ingenious designer Gérald Genta back in 1972 approved of the watchmaker’s experimentation with the circle. Yet this has not fazed Audemars Piguet, and the three-hand, chronograph, perpetual calendar, flying tourbillon and minute repeater models have welcomed a new, perfectly round, member to the family.

AP already has quite a few complication models in its arsenal, but the creation of this latest timepiece marks the beginning of a new chapter in the company's history, having combined two of the most classic complications in one watch. In 1986, the young constructor Serge Meylan succeeded in developing the first self-winding tourbillon. The tourbillon cage was 7.2 mm in diameter, housed in an ultra-slim 5.3 mm case, and it weighed only 0.123 g. In 1999, the tourbillon found a place to call home, with a chronograph and a minute repeater as its new neighbors in the Jules Audemars Tradition d’Excellence n°1 wristwatch.

Now, 21 years later, the chronograph and the tourbillon (which is flying now) have been reunited to perform a new duet, combined by Audemars Piguet within the architecture of the movement in the first Code 11.59 Flying Tourbillon Chronograph. The 41 mm diameter white-gold case frames the open dial, allowing you to see all the details of the the new caliber 2952 manufacture movement, with skeletonized bridges made of titanium and nickel silver. Not only does the watch have a brilliant mechanism, it also has a lustrous finish, with more than 100 hand-polished angles! Just 50 of these timepieces will be released, which is only bound to make the watch even more appealing to the collectors eager to get their hands on one.