Audemars Piguet Unveils Code 11.59 Universelle
A truly impressive grand complication.
The Code 11.59 watch from Audemars Piguet Universelle is undoubtedly the flagship of its recent launches, being the brand’s most complicated watch in recent years (and perhaps ever).
A project begun in 2016, this grand complication is rooted in history: it is a homage to L'Universelle, a grand complication pocket watch made by AP for German watchmaker Union in 1899. But it also pushes the brand’s modern watchmaking to its limits, especially in terms of miniaturizing highly complex mechanisms.
One of the brand’s official development timepieces, the Universelle, also known as the RD#4, combines all the traditional mechanisms that make up a grand complication into a single watch, and also integrates a perpetual calendar, a split-seconds chronograph, a tourbillon, and a grande and déjà sonnerie with a minute repeater.
The name Universelle means little to those unaware of its historical inspiration, but it is a horological behemoth that embodies AP’s industrial and mechanical prowess.
While the design of the Universelle is decidedly modern, it harkens back to a bygone era of fine watchmaking, when the industry valued highly complicated watches that packed as many features as possible into a (barely) wearable package. In today’s market, where “hype” watches are valued more than anything else and redesigned movements are more like business decisions than horological creations, the Universelle is a refreshing and remarkable achievement, not least because it is a large complication designed from scratch.
Despite the sheer number of complications within, its size is impressive, with the Universelle measuring just 42mm wide and 15.55mm thick – large, but surprisingly compact considering all the functionality inside.
The Universelle is available in four versions, three in white gold and one in rose gold. Two dial styles are available: a skeletonized dial with a bridge that matches the case metal and reveals much of the perpetual calendar mechanism, and a more traditional solid dial with a restrained, instrument-like aesthetic. The latter is the understated choice, as it is relatively simple yet hides mechanical complexity.
Counted individually, the Universelle features 23 complications and a movement comprised of 1,155 parts, yet manages to cram all of them into a 42mm case that is only 15.55mm high. This height is an achievement, as the movement is self-winding, with the full rotor visible through a display back that sits beneath a hinged hunter caseback. One innovation that explains this height is the split-seconds mechanism integrated into the rotor bore – more on that below.
Despite being a highly complex watch, the Universelle is remarkably easy to use, and in the rare realm of grand complications, it is perhaps the easiest watch to adjust and set. All settings can be made manually via well-sized pushers, without the need for tools to activate tiny recessed pushers.
The three pushers on the right side of the case are typical of a split-seconds chronograph, with the start and stop pushers at two and four o’clock, while the split-seconds pusher is integrated into the crown at three o’clock. In fact, the start and stop pushers are also coaxially nested in a separate crown to add functionality on a single axis – the crown at two o’clock switches the chime mode, the middle crown does regular time setting and winding, and the crown at four o’clock quickly adjusts the perpetual calendar.
Meanwhile, the design of the left side of the case is also surprisingly simple, containing only three pushers – a quick-correction button for the day of the week, a button for the moon phase, and the all-important minute repeater start button. Each button and crown on both sides of the case are engraved with a corresponding symbol or abbreviation to indicate their function, making it almost foolproof.
The watch is also shock-resistant and water-resistant to 20 meters, further enhancing its practicality.
A milestone movement
Of course, the focus of the Universelle is the movement inside it – the cal. 1000. The movement is just 34.3mm wide and 8.75mm thick, yet it has all the features of a classic grand complication, namely a split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar and minute repeater.
However, the Cal. 1000 goes a step further, adding a tourbillon, flyback chronograph, automatic winding and grande and petite sonnerie functions – a rare complication even by modern standards. In fact, perhaps the only common modern complication not present in the Cal. 1000 is a power reserve indicator, which is arguably pointless given the automatic winding.
In some ways, the construction of the Cal. 1000 is old-fashioned. It is layered like most large compilation movements throughout history. On the top layer, closest to the crystal, is the perpetual calendar, which borrows innovations from the Royal Oak RD#2 Ultra-Thin Calendar.
The most notable feature of this calendar is the reduction of the 48-tooth calendar program wheel to a single layer, which reduces the height of the calendar module. But the cal. 1000 takes the calendar complication beyond the RD#2 by adding a large date at 12 o’clock and a two-digit year indicator at 4 o’clock.
Underneath the calendar module is the base movement, which is derived from a family of movements that includes the brand’s workhorse chronograph, the cal. 4401. The cal. 1000 is naturally much more advanced than the cal. 4401, which was simply a flyback chronograph movement. It also adds a split-seconds chronograph and a flying tourbillon, as well as a grande sonnerie based on AP’s historic grande sonnerie movement.
One of the key innovations in making the movement as slim as possible is the integration of the rattrapante mechanism into the automatic winding mechanism. The rotor is supported by a large central hub with an opening in the middle, leaving room for the entire rattrapante mechanism. The same co-axial rattrapante mechanism is also used in the just-launched Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds GMT.
All of this mechanical complexity is visible beneath a hinged hunter caseback, which is actually the outer resonant caseback of AP’s Supersonnerie device. It’s essentially a double back that amplifies the chime of the striking mechanism. In a traditional Supersonnerie, the outer back is fixed; here, it’s hinged but performs the same function.
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