BESPOKE | 7 JANUARY 2020
London’s Newly Opened AP House Immerses Visitors into Audemars Piguet’s Cultural Universe
The people at Audemars Piguet believe that watchmaking isn’t separate from culture but central to culture, something that’s evident in the design of the Swiss Manufacture’s newest private apartment in central London.
Located at 130 Bond Street and accessed via a doorbell, AP House is more private club or salon than retail space. There is no shop front or window display, just a discreet brass plate at the entrance. Visitors are encouraged to sample a malt whiskey at the bar while admiring the handsome architecture of the Code 11.59 Minute Repeater Supersonnerie. Or to just relax on the lounge’s Minotti sofa and catch up with the news channel. There will also be musical performances, exhibitions, dinners and talks by AP’s artisans.
‘We wanted to create a sense of comfort, intimacy and belonging for our family of customers,’ says AP’s resident historian Michael Friedman. ‘A space where we can host cultural experiences for our guests, as well as showing our wonderful watches.’
As AP’s Head of Complications, Friedman’s job is to oversee the journey of the brand’s timepieces, from their creation at the Le Brassus atelier in Switzerland, to the wrists of clients in London, New York and Hong Kong. AP encourages clients to meet its watchmakers to discover the masterful definition of the Grand Complication that combines the perpetual calendar, the minute repeater and the split-second chronograph.
‘At Audemars Piguet we believe that ‘art’ and ‘artisan’ are closely related,’ says Friedman. ‘Our creations are all about the balance between technique and technology, between artisanship and artist. We want to create watches of the moment and of tomorrow. But to be relevant tomorrow, you have to be challenging in the present.’
Located on the first floor of 130-134 New Bond Street, the AP House is more private club or salon than retail space. There is no shop front or window display, just a discreet brass plate at the entrance. Visitors are encouraged to relax, reflect, connect or disconnect, as well as discover Audemars Piguet’s universe through a variety of events, including musical performances, art exhibitions or dedicated masterclasses.
AP’s association with art can be traced back to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The Eiffel Tower made its debut and around 40 million people, including the likes of Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Claude Debussy, came to visit. Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, both still in their twenties, also attended the Exposition, purveying Grand Complication pocket watches for men, and miniature repeaters for women, but also nurturing a cultural trajectory for their company and a global distribution network for an artistically inclined customer base.
AP’s association with art can be traced back to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The Eiffel Tower made its debut and around 40 million people, including the likes of Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Claude Debussy, came to visit. Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, both still in their twenties, also attended the Exposition, purveying Grand Complication pocket watches for men, and miniature repeaters for women, but also nurturing a cultural trajectory for their company and a global distribution network for an artistically inclined customer base.
‘Since then, AP’s mechanical watches have been at the apex of science and technology,’ says Friedman. ‘And this is where objects of time measurement are different from all other objects of culture. They have a utilitarian function, as well as being objects of great design and great aesthetics. Mechanical watches are among the last objects of permanence in an era of obsolescence, and we take this very seriously at Audemars Piguet.’
‘We wanted to create a sense of comfort, intimacy and belonging for our family of customers,’ says Michael Friedman, AP’s Head of Complications, ‘a space where we can host cultural experiences for our guests, as well as showing our latest timepieces.’
The Manufacture’s display of selected watches in this contemporary apartment, which blends design with comfort, narrates the unique encounters the Manufacture fosters among fields of creative practice.
‘At Audemars Piguet we believe that ‘art’ and ‘artisanship’ are closely related,’ says Friedman, who oversees the journey of the brand’s timepieces from their creation at the Le Brassus Manufacture in Switzerland, to the clients’ wrists all over the world. ‘Our timepieces are all about the balance between technique and technology, between artisanship and art. We want to create watches of the moment and of tomorrow. But to be relevant tomorrow, you have to be challenging in the present.’
‘Our timepieces are all about the balance between technique and technology, between artisanship and art.’
AP’s association with culture, art and the latest technology can be traced back to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Following the debut of the Eiffel Tower, this exhibition attracted around 40 million people, including the likes of Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Claude Debussy. Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, both still in their twenties, also attended the Exposition, purveying Grand Complication pocket watches for men and miniature repeaters for women, but also nurturing a cultural trajectory for their company and a global distribution network for an artistically inclined customer base.
‘Since then, AP’s mechanical watches have been at the apex of science and technology,’ says Friedman. ‘And this is where objects of time measurement are different from all other objects of culture. They have a utilitarian function, as well as being objects of great design and aesthetics. Mechanical watches are among the last objects of permanence in an era of obsolescence, and we take this very seriously at Audemars Piguet.’
Constantly looking ahead, the Manufacture continues to anticipate the future and perpetuate the visionary craftsmanship of its founders, generation after generation.
