History of Audemars Piguet
In 1875, Jules Louis Audemars (1851–1918) and Edward Auguste Piguet (1853–1919), both from watchmaking families, set up their business in Le Brassus, Switzerland. They started by producing and selling complicated watch movements to Geneva-based companies but soon expanded to producing watches themselves. They assembled a highly specialized workforce with the necessary skills all under one roof.
When industrial machinery appeared, the two men decided to forego large-volume production and stick with producing one-off complicated watches. They specialized in chiming mechanisms, chronographs, and astronomical indications, which are still manufactured by Audemars Piguet today. Between 1892, when the first minute repeater wristwatch was sold, and 1965, a total of 550 complicated wristwatches were produced, which are highly sought after by collectors today.
Today, Audemars Piguet employs over 1’450 people worldwide and produces 51’000 watches per year.