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Lot Essay
Made in only 25 examples, the present Audemars Piguet is an exceptionally rare expression of the manufacture’s complicated watchmaking. Its unusual pink gold cushion-shaped case combines jumping hour and minute apertures with the prestigious minute-repeating complication, bringing considerable mechanical complexity into remarkably classical proportions. Discreet yet highly distinctive, it exemplifies the refined approach to complicated wristwatches that characterises the celebrated John Schaeffer collection.
The John Schaeffer collection
The introduction of the John Schaeffer collection coincided with Audemars Piguet’s important revival of complicated wristwatches, particularly minute repeaters and other striking mechanisms for which the manufacture had already become renowned during the early decades of the 20th century. Its distinctive cushion-shaped architecture provided an ideal framework for a series of highly complicated watches inspired by some of Audemars Piguet’s earliest masterpieces.
The collection took its design directly from an important minute-repeating wristwatch made for John Wallace Schaeffer, vice president of the Allied Chemical Corporation in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1927. Its distinctive ‘coussin tortue’ case was complemented by a highly personal dial on which the conventional hour numerals were replaced by the twelve letters spelling ‘JOHN SCHAEFFER’.
Following its acquisition by the Audemars Piguet Museum, Schaeffer’s original watch was publicly exhibited in 1992. Its enthusiastic reception inspired the manufacture to revisit the historic design and create an entirely new collection bearing the John Schaeffer name. The resulting watches combined the characteristic cushion-shaped case with some of Audemars Piguet’s most sophisticated complications, creating a direct link between the manufacture’s historic complicated wristwatches and its modern production.
The John Schaeffer collection
The introduction of the John Schaeffer collection coincided with Audemars Piguet’s important revival of complicated wristwatches, particularly minute repeaters and other striking mechanisms for which the manufacture had already become renowned during the early decades of the 20th century. Its distinctive cushion-shaped architecture provided an ideal framework for a series of highly complicated watches inspired by some of Audemars Piguet’s earliest masterpieces.
The collection took its design directly from an important minute-repeating wristwatch made for John Wallace Schaeffer, vice president of the Allied Chemical Corporation in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1927. Its distinctive ‘coussin tortue’ case was complemented by a highly personal dial on which the conventional hour numerals were replaced by the twelve letters spelling ‘JOHN SCHAEFFER’.
Following its acquisition by the Audemars Piguet Museum, Schaeffer’s original watch was publicly exhibited in 1992. Its enthusiastic reception inspired the manufacture to revisit the historic design and create an entirely new collection bearing the John Schaeffer name. The resulting watches combined the characteristic cushion-shaped case with some of Audemars Piguet’s most sophisticated complications, creating a direct link between the manufacture’s historic complicated wristwatches and its modern production.