In 1994, Swiss manufacture Audemars Piguet presented its first Grande Sonnerie wristwatch. In 2020, AP reintroduced the complication and has presented a trilogy in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection every year since. This year, the horology house launches three new models: Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie. They all showcase a new sapphire dial as well as a black ceramic case middle. The three highly complicated timepieces are powered by the newly developed calibre 2956 and are available in 18-carat pink, yellow or white gold. The yellow-gold model also makes its debut within the Code 11.59 collection.
The three new 41 mm timepieces are available in three different precious metals: 18-carat pink, yellow or white gold. The case middle section is made of black ceramic, having previously been introduced for the 2021 chronographs in the Code 11.59 collection and the 2022 Grande Complications – but this is the first time that ceramic has also been used for a Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie. A Code 11.59 model with a yellow-gold case is also a first.
This year, AP is introducing a transparent sapphire crystal dial into the collection for the first time. Thus, the movement becomes the face of the watch. A semi-matte black opaline inner bezel has been hand-decorated down to the smallest detail using sophisticated finishing techniques. The movement has been redesigned to show itself off in all its glory under the sapphire crystal dial. To make this possible, the bridges at four and six o’clock have been skeletonized, the railway track has been removed, and the circular graining decoration has been replaced in favour of ‘traits tires’.
Matching the black and gold tones of the case, the three-dimensional dial features hands, hour markers and a small seconds hand that all echo the colour combination. The black accents of the dial are achieved through a galvanic process.
The three new timepieces in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie collection are powered by the manual winding calibre 2956 movement. It features a Grande Sonnerie complication with chimes as well as the patented Supersonnerie technology, which was introduced in 2015 in the Royal Oak Concept collection. The movement consists of 498 components.
A watch with Grande Sonnerie not only chimes hours, quarters and minutes at the wearer’s request like a classic minute repeater, but can also chime hours and quarters, similar to a bell tower, without manual operation. The wearer can choose between Grande Sonnerie (hours and quarters), Petite Sonnerie (hours only) and Silence (mute) using a selector. The Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie features a chime with three gongs and hammers instead of two gongs, allowing it to strike the quarter hours with three successive tones (high, middle, low).
The patented technology is the result of eight years of joint research with the Innovation and Research Center of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Together, they remade the case design and developed new striking technology. The gongs are not attached to the main plate, but to a new device acting as a soundboard, which improves the sound transmission.
The three new timepieces are worn on black rubber-coated straps with matching gold stitching and a calfskin lining. They are available as of now and cost 715,000 Swiss francs each.
