Jules Audemars "Chronometer"

The star of the show at AP, and you could even say at the SIHH, was undoubtedly the internally baptized "ChronAP". Definitely the small talk on the competitors lips. If I may add, in a tense manner in some cases...


For all others this is called "Jules Audemars Watch with Audemars Piguet Escapement"... because this is a bit long and not commercially wise I will stick to calling it "ChronAP" from here on. Quite frankly, it's not very sexy either.

I usually avoid commenting on watches of this price and limited availability since most of the time the only exclusive factor is price, but in this case there is more to it.
This is a pure racing machine. Conceived for the sole purpose of competing in the new time/accuracy venues up ahead. Yes, the competition is back for probably this year and many are preparing for it with anticipation. APRP prepared this in order to take the trophy back home. At 43,200 v/r, what is equivalent to 6 HZ, it could very well do the trick. You should not regard this as an everyday watch but more at the equivalent of a "Stradale" Ferrari or Porsche "GT3". They are an ultra performance version of what already is a great product.

On the negative side, at least for me, I would have liked this to be a regulator and not a small hours and minutes at 12 o'clock. Added is the general comment that it is very similar, too similar, to the Breguet "La Tradition" pieces. This could be true yet the Breguet in turn could be also a copy of watch designs used for several centuries. Unfortunately the Breguet "La Tradition" is a successful product and is latest in many collector's and aficionado's retinas. I guess that the strength of looking "inwards" as a company has had a negative effect in this case. In any case, the finish and details on this piece are miles apart. So is the 260,000$ price tag...

Well, 25 will be made of these a year. I only hope that the new escapement slowly finds its way into all other movements by AP. That would be an extraordinary achievement.

Audemars Piguet...