Two Remarkable 37 and 41 mm White Gold Royal Oak Selfwinding Settings Reimagine The CLASSIC Rainbow Watch

Two Royal Oak Selfwinding Sets Shimmering With Iridescent Coloured Gemstones.

Instead of experimenting with iridescent hues on a single timepiece, the Manufacture has reimagined the rainbow with ten timepieces per set, each fully decorated with a distinctive gemstone in a vibrant red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, or orange hue, so as to form a rainbow when placed side by side.

An Array of Flamboyant Gemstones

Finding the right stones, colours, and contrasts, while adhering to Audemars Piguet's strict criteria for colour, clarity, and quality, was a crucial step in the design of the rainbow sets and no easy task for timepieces covered with 861 gems of the same hue (ranging from 30 to 47 carats per watch) for the 41 mm versions and 790 gems (ranging from 21 to 37 carats per watch).

Ruby, emerald, and blue sapphire, the three "Queens" of jewels, set the tone for the colour gradation. To match these vibrant hues, the Manufacture's gemmologist and design team selected stones seldom seen in the Haute Horlogerie business. To generate a harmonious and expressive rainbow, tanzanites, yellow chrysoberyls, pink tourmalines, amethysts, blue topaz, orange spessartites, and tsavorites were chosen for their brilliant colours and clarity. In addition, each of these 10 pieces has its own tale that relates to the particular characteristics, hue, and meaning of its designated gemstone.

"With these sets available in two sizes, we deviated from the norm to create an unusual rainbow of 10 daring clocks, each adorned with a different jewel. We chose some of the cleanest and most vibrant gemstones in the world, including emeralds, rubies, tourmalines, tanzanites, tsavorites, chrysoberyls, and spessartites. A difficult task since we were required to locate 800 jewels per watch, all of the same hue and of the finest quality."

The Craftsmanship Of Invisible Gemsetting

To complement the architecture of the Royal Oak case, bracelet, and dial, the gemstones were individually cut into baguettes of 179 various sizes for the 41 mm models and 153 different sizes for the 37 mm versions, and then hand-polished to exhibit crisp and clear angles.

For the dial, case, and bracelet links, the Manufacture selected the sophisticated method of invisible gemsetting to lend prominence to the coloured gemstones. The baguette-cut stones have been intricately etched with tiny grooves, which are then snapped one by one onto a secret rail set in the gold component to create the illusion that they are standing on their own.

The dial's gemsetting exemplifies the technological expertise behind these invisibly set watches, as the very thin gold plate is covered with 152 baguettes of 30 various sizes for the 37 mm clocks and 28 different sizes for the 41 mm variants. To further emphasise the stones, the hour markers have been omitted and the "Audemars Piguet" signature and "Swiss Made" indicator have been discretely written in white or black on the sapphire crystal.

Selfwinding Calibres The Current Generation

The two 37 mm and 41 mm sets are powered by Calibre 5909 and Calibre 4309, two self-winding hour, minute, and second movements without a date display, to highlight the dial's gemsetting.

A Legacy Of Exquisite Timepieces

Since its founding, Audemars Piguet has cooperated with renowned jewellers, like Tiffany, Cartier, Oscar Heyman, and Bvlgari, to encase its movements in one-of-a-kind Haute Joaillerie masterpieces glistening with diamonds and coloured gemstones. The "Tutti Frutti" wristwatch sold in 1929 was fitted with Calibre 5/7SB, the Manufacture's smallest movement ever created. This one-of-a-kind set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and blue and yellow sapphires was designed by the Parisian jeweller Egouvillon Lafon & Cie Paris (Audemars Piguet Heritage Collection, Inv. 1378).

In the 1960s and 1970s, incredibly inventive timepieces with dials made of natural stones emerged. In the Audemars Piguet catalogues, dials fashioned of tiger's eye, lapis lazuli, aventurine, grossular garnet, opal, onyx, ruby, amethyst, and japser, to mention a few, may be found, sometimes in conjunction with additional gemstones displayed on the case and bracelet.

In the 1980s, the increasing popularity of watches with welded bands prompted Audemars Piguet to establish its own jewellery studio and develop unique gemset watches in-house, culminating in the 2013 premiere of its Haute Joaillerie series.

Audemars Piguet's outstanding gemsetting is not limited to these one-of-a-kind fine jewellery masterpieces; it continues to permeate its collections to this day. Some watches include a bezel set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts, or rainbow-colored jewels, and others are totally paved with diamonds or coloured stones to provide distinctive iridescent effects and contrasts.