First off, the name. Audemars Piguet. Try saying that five times fast. It’s French, obviously, and sounds super fancy, which is exactly the point, right? They’re a Swiss company, based in Le Brassus, Switzerland. Never heard of it? Yeah, me neither before I started kinda researching these things. But apparently, it’s watchmaking central.
So, these guys have been around forever, since 1875, according to some stuff I read. That’s a *long* time. They claim to push “technical and theoretical boundaries” or something like that. Which, let’s be real, probably just means they figured out how to make a watch that does something *slightly* different and costs, like, five times as much. I mean, I love technology, but sometimes these luxury watch companies just feel like they’re throwing money at problems that don’t exist.
But, BUT, the craftsmanship is kinda undeniable. Like, I saw a video once of someone assembling one of these movements, and holy crap, the tiny little parts! I can barely thread a needle. These watchmakers are basically miniature surgeons.
And the gold. Oh, the gold. Yellow, pink, white… they got it all. They’re all about reinterpretin’ traditions with a “free-spirited twist,” which is probably a fancy way of saying they put a weird color dial on it. I mean, hey, if you got the cash, why not? (And, supposedly, they’re all about corporate social responsibility too, which is good, I guess.)
The Royal Oak. That’s the big one, right? Everyone wants a Royal Oak. I’ve seen articles listing the “top 5 best-selling” ones on Chrono24 (which is apparently the place to buy used luxury watches if you’re, you know, into that kinda thing). It’s got that octagonal bezel with the screws… unmistakable. It’s a classic. A ridiculously expensive classic, but a classic nonetheless. I kinda get the appeal, even if I’d rather have a down payment on a house.
And the prices… *gulp*. You can find “affordable” Audemars Piguet watches. *Affordable*. That’s hilarious! Apparently, “affordable” in the Audemars Piguet world means “only costs as much as a really nice car.” I mean, I GUESS if you are used to buying multi-million dollar yachts, then $30K might be considered affordable, right?
