Audemars Piguet: A Steel Reveal For Code 11.59, And The First HyperWatch Of 2023

<h4 style="text-align: center;">The new Code 11.59 Universelle is a shot across – well, everyone’s bow.</h4>
 
 
The 50th Anniversary year for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak has come and gone but based on AP’s recent releases – rolled out over February 2nd and 3rd – you don’t get the impression that they’re taking their foot off the gas. The new releases from AP are across just about every major product line, including the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, and Code 11.59 and include a major revamp of the basic Code 11.59 line, new Offshore models, and new versions of many complications including tourbillons, perpetual calendars, and chronographs.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166348 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-15210ST.OO_.A348KB.01-Closeup-GP08.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Steel 15210ST.OO.A348KB.01" width="1200" height="900" />
But the unquestioned star of the show is one of the most complicated watches that Audemars Piguet has ever produced: The new RD#4 Code 11.59 “Universelle” – a watch with dozens of complications and technical innovations, which includes a perpetual calendar, grande et petite supersonnerie, flying tourbillon with high-amplitude balance, split seconds flyback chronograph, and a moonphase display which duplicates the accuracy of a spherical moonphase display.
The Code 11.59 collection was launched by AP in 2019 and it elicited far stronger initial reactions than new releases generally do. Part of the reason was of course because it wasn’t just a new watch – it was a whole new line of watches which had no precedent in AP’s prior history, and which introduced a radically new aesthetic as well. Code 11.59 watches are round, but there the resemblance to conventional watchmaking ends – the case construction is highly complex, featuring a rounded octagonal case middle (a shout-out of course to the bezel on the Royal Oak) and skeletonized, rather short lugs which are attached only to the bezel, with a gap between the bottom of the lugs and the caseback. The collection at launch featured six new models, a total of 13 new watches, and three new movements, including a long-awaited, in-house selfwinding chronograph.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166349 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26393QT.OO_.A064KB.01-Closeup-GP07.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Steel Chronograph 26393QT.OO.A064KB.01" width="1200" height="1599" />
Though the designs were extremely polarizing, AP has stuck to its guns and has continued to roll out new Code 11.59 models, with the most well-received often being complicated watches. The basic collection, however, has now gotten its most significant upgrade since the 2017 launch – not only are the six new references, but for the first time, Code 11.59 watches have been released in steel.
The six new models are basically two new watches, in three different dial color variations – a time-and-date watch, and a chronograph, both using existing movements (the automatic caliber 4302, and the automatic chronograph caliber 4401). The three new dial colors are dark green, dark blue (Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50, which was the blue used for the first Royal Oak) and a smoked beige, in which the color gradient transitions to almost pure black at the dial edge.
The dial patterns are stamped and very intricate – the dies for stamping the dial pattern are made by using a rose engine to create a guilloché pattern on the die, which is then transferred to the dial itself. The pattern is very complex – in the center of the dial, there are a series of concentric circles which as they approach the dial edge, spread out like ripples in water, and begin to alternate with hundreds of tiny holes. The design, combined with the various colors, creates the optical illusion of a color gradient, even in the blue and green models (the beige dial has an actual color gradient, which was applied with a galvanic treatment; the two other colors are applied by PVD). The blue and green dial watches are all stainless, and the beige dial model has a ceramic case middle.
The hands and dial markers have been updated from previous Code 11.59 models as well. The Arabic numerals of previous models have been replaced with stick indexes (doubled at 12:00) and the hands are wider; both are now treated with Super LumiNova.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166350 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26393ST.OO_.A056KB.01-Closeup-GP13.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Steel Chronograph 26393ST.OO.A056KB.01" width="1200" height="900" />
These new stainless steel models seem clearly positioned to provide an entry point into the brand – prices are relatively moderate by the standards of luxury watchmaking, beginning at CHF 21,000 for the time-and-date references, and CHF 29,000 for the chronographs. By contrast, a 41mm Royal Oak in steel currently lists at $26,00, and one of the new “Jumbo” 16202 models lists at $34,900. With the new dial patterns and colors, redesigned markers and hands, and steel cases, the new Code 11.59 watches feel more versatile than previous models, as well as closer to the sports-luxury feel originally pioneered by the Royal Oak in 1972.
<h2>The Code 11.59 “Universelle”</h2>
On the other end of the horological spectrum, in a big way, is the Code 11.59 Universelle. This is a fantastically complex watch with a number of major technical innovations – in fact, one of the most complex watches AP has ever produced, and the latest watch in the company’s very long history of producing so-called “grand complication” wristwatches and pocket watches.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166352 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26398BC.OO_.D002CR.01-Closeup-GP26.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Universelle 26398BC.OO.D002CR.01" width="1200" height="900" />
The term “grand complication” is used somewhat loosely these days, but traditionally it meant something fairly specific: A watch with a split-seconds chronograph, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar. The Universelle’s name is taken from a super-complicated pocket watch, with 19 complications, which was sold by the German firm of Dürstein; the movement was delivered by AP in 1899 and the watch was advertised as, “Universal-Uhr” in 1901.
The Code 11.59 Universelle fills the bill for a traditional grand complication, and then some. The watch has a flyback split-seconds chronograph (which even taken alone, is an extremely complex mechanism) as well as a perpetual calendar with three windows for the day, date, and month; it’s also a grande et petite sonnerie and minute repeater, and has a moonphase display with what is, as far as I know, a new and unique design which offers the advantages of a spherical moonphase, but in a flat display. Finally, the Universelle also incorporates a flying tourbillon.
A grande et petite sonnerie chimes the hours “in passing” like a chiming clock. In grand strike mode, the hours and quarter hours are struck every fifteen minutes and in small strike (petite sonnerie) mode, the hours are only struck at the top of each hour, and the quarters are struck without the hours.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166351 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26398BC.OO_.D002CR.01-Closeup-GP01.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="AP Code 11.59 Universelle 26398BC.OO.D002CR.01" width="1200" height="898" />
The Universelle has an enormous number of additional features – for instance, in a conventional minute repeater, if there are no quarter hours to chime (for instance, if it’s 10:11 there is a silent gap between the hours and minutes, where the quarter chime would be; the Universelle’s striking train was designed to eliminate that gap). The striking system runs off a separate mainspring barrel (which is the case for all grande sonnerie and repeating watches) and in the Universelle, the chiming works spring is wound by the automatic winding system, simultaneously with the primary mainspring.
<div id="attachment_1166353" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1166353" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1166353 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26398BC.OO_.D002CR.01-Still-Life-03.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Universelle Hunter Caseback 26398BC.OO.D002CR.01" width="1200" height="1635" />The Code 11.59 Universelle features a new version of AP’s Supersonnerie resonance caseback, now hinged in order to allow a view of the movement.</div>
The balance for the tourbillon is derived from an innovation first seen in the RD#3 Royal Oak Ultra-Thin tourbillon and it’s a little esoteric, but significant (and significantly, it was missed by a lot of the coverage of both versions of the RD#3). That innovation is a large-amplitude oscillation of the balance. Normally the balance of a watch rotates between 270 and 320 degrees – less than that, and precision starts to fall off, and more than that, there’s a risk of the balance “knocking” (a situation in which the balance over-rotates and the impulse jewel – the point of contact between the escapement and the balance – bangs into the outside of the lever). Larger amplitude, if it could be controlled, would, all other things being equal, promise improved precision, and the balance of the RD#3 tourbillon – and the Universelle’s balance – rotate through very nearly a full 360º.
However, the single biggest innovation in the Universelle, probably has to do with the various mechanisms for controlling the complications.
Usually, highly complex watches have a number of different correctors built into the case for setting the various indications, and often these take the form of inset buttons which have to be pressed with a special tool (or even a toothpick).
In the Universelle, all the indications can be adjusted without the use of such tools. On the left side of the case, there are pushers to activate the minute repeater, as well as two pushers for setting the moonphase display, and the day indications.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166354 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CODE-26398BC.OO_.D002KB.02-Closeup-GP19.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Universelle Skeleton 26398BC.OO.D002KB.02" width="1200" height="1583" />
On the right side of the case are three “Supercrowns” as AP calls them. These are multifunction crowns, each with a push piece. Start, stop, and reset of the chronograph is traditional, via the pushers at 2:00 and 4:00. The crown at 4:00 can be rotated backwards or forwards to set the month and year, and it will also automatically return to the zero position after it’s rotated in either direction. The central crown can be used to set the time and date, as well as select the strike mode (grand strike, small strike, or silent).
The ease with which the supercrowns can be used conceals quite a lot of mechanical complexity, but the upshot is a watch with a large number of functions and indications which is easy to set and operate – far more user friendly than usual for such a complicated watch.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-1166356 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/moonphase-closeup.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Universelle Skeleton" width="1200" height="1200" />
The moonphase display is an interesting attempt to solve a fundamental problem with all moonphase displays, which is that no matter how precise they are, they do not accurately represent what you see in the sky – the boundary between the light and dark parts of the Moon changes its curvature as the Moon waxes and wanes, forming a crescent at either extreme, but forming more or less a straight line across the face of the Moon during a half-moon. The spherical moonphase display (as used by De Bethune, for instance) is a partial solution to this problem, although the visual accuracy falls off if you look at the sphere from anything other than a direct angle. In the Universelle, the display is courtesy two concentric disks, which show the correct position of the line between light and dark – there are ten possible combinations of the Moon images on the disks, so while it’s not a hundred per cent accurate, it’s still very close.
The Universelle is a remarkable watch (and at CHF 1.45 million for the standard dial model, and CHF 1.6 million for the open dial, you’d kind of expect it to be) but perhaps its single greatest achievement is not its complexity per se, but rather, how lightly it wears it. Although it’s only February, the Universelle is undoubtedly the most remarkable watch of the year so far overall, and though 2023 is still young, the watch to beat, right now, is the Code 11.59 Universelle.

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Audemars Piguet

Written By

Jack Forster

WatchBox Global Editorial Director Jack Forster has been fascinated by every aspect of watches, clocks, and watchmaking for his entire life. He began systematically studying and learning about watches over 20 years ago, and during the first explosion of watch enthusiast forums, he became a moderator on thepurists.com. Jack became a full-time watch writer in 2007, when he joined Revolution Magazine, first as group technical and features editor, and then as editor in chief of Revolution Magazine USA. He joined the enthusiast website Hodinkee in 2015 as managing editor and then as Editor in Chief. In 2022, Jack joined WatchBox as the Global Editorial Director. He is the author of Cartier Time Art: Mechanics of Passion, and has written about watches, and other subjects, for many other venues including CNN, American Express Departures, and Vanity Fair.

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