Swiss gold astronomic watch with ten complications Circa 1963

Gold lever complicated dress watch
–
A very elegant, important, and extremely rare Swiss, 18K yellow gold minute repeating, keyless, astronomic watch, circa 1963. Watch with ten complications by Audemars Piguet with phases and age of the moon, perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph and 30-minute progressive register. Accompanied by an 18K gold serpentine chain and Extract from the Archives.
–
A solid, polished and brushed case. Two-tone satiné silver dial with applied yellow gold baton indexes, outer minute and chronograph divisions, subsidiary dials for days of the week, months of the leap-year cycle with outer 30-minute register, date and seconds concentric with a lunar calendar with inner moon phase aperture. Gold bâton hands. A rhodium-plated movement, 33 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with eight adjustments, blued steel Breguet balance spring with swan-neck micrometre regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide in the band, split-seconds chronograph with the button on the winding crown and push-piece in the band. Dial, case and movement signed.
–
Diameter: 49 mm
–
Signed: Audemars Piguet  Swiss
–

Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 by two watchmakers, Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, aged 24 and 22, respectively, under the name Audemars Piguet, Manufacture d’Horlogerie. Jules Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he was trained under master watchmakers of the area. After his apprenticeship, Jules Audemars began work as a repasseur until 1874, settling in Gimel and opening a small business. He did not obtain the success he had hoped for, probably due to the recession which was then beginning. Eight months later, he returned to Le Brassus, looking for a new situation more in keeping with his exceptional watchmaking skill. Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years after Jules Audemars, received a similar education. Edward completed his formation as a repasseur under Charles Capt. The two met in 1875 in Le Brassus. The two watchmakers worked closely together for a time without legally officializing their partnership. Then, the Audemars Piguet company was officially founded in 1889. Nevertheless, a brand was registered at the Office technique de l’Edition et de la Publicité in Bern, on December 6, 1882, for movements and watch cases.
–
In the records, Audemars Piguet & Cie is presented as manufacturer active all year long, employing ten male employees. In 1880, they opened a branch in Geneva, where commercial possibilities were the greatest. Because of his exceptional technical abilities, Jules Audemars was the technical manager of the manufacturer. He patented several inventions in Switzerland and the USA and travelled extensively, particularly to America, where he was fascinated by the potential for trade. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918, when Jules Audemars died at 67. Edward Piguet died the following year. Certain of their models became symbolic of the skill and technique of Audemars Piguet. One of them, a minute repeating, perpetual calendar, split-seconds chronograph pocket watch, was presented at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889. They also opened stores in Paris, London, Berlin and New York. They made watches of different styles: French, English, German and American, which was the most efficient strategy. They took part in several important exhibitions and fairs. Around 1915, the company started to manufacture fashionable wristwatches, continuing to produce traditional and complicated pocket watches. They made many repeating watches.
–
In 1920, after the death of the two founders, Audemars Piguet created the smallest minute-repeating watch and, in 1911, the ten movements. Audemars Piguet products were sold in Le Brassus, Geneva, London, Paris, Berlin and New York. The manufacturer worked in collaboration with important importers and retailers all over the world. Their clients included, among others: Dent and Frodsham in London, Tiffany in New York, Cartier and Breguet in Paris, Bulgari in Rome, and Dürrstein in Glashütte and Dresden. After the New York Stock Exchange crash in 1929, Audemars Piguet, like other manufacturers, lost a large part of its American clientele. 1932 was the worst year in the firm’s history. The manufacture remained the property of the Audemars Piguet families and their descendants. In 1933, the economic situation of the firm was already much improved, and at the beginning of WWII, the major part of Audemars Piguet production was sold to the USA. Later, seeing the strong interest from clients for skeleton wristwatches and pocket watches, Audemars Piguet included these among their standard production. They remain so today, as do their famous complicated pocket watches invented over 100 years ago.
–
The 10 Complications
Perpetual Calendar
Days of the month
Days of the week
Months
Four-year cycle
Moon phases and age
Chronograph
Split-seconds function
Chronograph register
Minute repeater