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Today’s LPGA Championship victory makes Kerr the first american to rank no.1 on the LPGA Tour

(New York, NY – June 27, 2010) Another exciting victory for an Audemars Piguet golf ambassador with today’s victory by Cristie Kerr at the LPGA Championship (the second major championship of the year) at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, NY. She is thus adding a second Grand Slam title to her tally, after winning the US Women’s Open three years ago.

 Kerr started the day with an 8-stroke lead and won the tournament by an incredible 12-strokes.  Just two weeks ago, Kerr was victorious at the LPGA State Farm Classic.  Kerr now becomes the first American to be No. 1 in the world rankings with this latest victory as well as only the fifth player to hold the No. 1 spot since the rankings were introduced in 2006. 

“With Cristie’s win today, no other watch brand can say they have had as many tournament victories this year as Audemars Piguet.  Cristie as well as our other victorious golf ambassadors Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim and Miguel Angel Jiménez truly exemplify the brand’s core value of excellence.  We are incredibly honored to support such remarkable talent.” says Philippe Merk, CEO of Audemars Piguet. 

 In addition to Cristie Kerr, the AP Golf Ambassador Team represents the company’s commitment to golf by gathering an array of exceptional players for the brand.  The manufacturer’s illustrious pro-golfer roster includes Lam Chih Bing, Darren Clarke, Nick Faldo, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Shiv Kapur, Shingo Katayama, Anthony Kim, Thomas Levet, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Rocco Mediate, Morgan Pressel, Vijay Singh, DJ Trahan, and Lee Westwood.

The hours sing out once more on the new Jules Audemars watch from Audemars Piguet. They also dance across the dial with its jumping display and elegant blued Arabic numerals. Combining two in-house specialities – the Minute Repeater and Jumping Hours – this marvel of precision and harmony perpetuates Audemars Piguet’s supreme expertise in the field of complicated watches. With its case and dial featuring a new take on classical styling, it gives a fresh boost to the Jules Audemars collection. This delightful new model will be music to the ears of connoisseurs the world over.

Musical hours

Watchmakers in the Vallée de Joux have always nurtured a great passion and an innate talent for striking mechanisms. Perhaps because, amid the silence of the mountains and the hushed serenity of long snowbound winters, the crystal-clear sound of these miniature musical marvels strikes an even deeper, more meaningful chord. Or possibly because such a complex mechanism was bound to stir their legendary inventive spirit. Founded in Le Brassus in 1875, the Manufacture Audemars Piguet soon demonstrated its skills in the art of striking watches. In 1889, it presented a “Grande Complication” model equipped with a Minute Repeater mechanism striking the hours, quarters and minutes. It also devised a number of technical innovations serving to miniaturise these mechanisms: in 1891, it created a Minute Repeater model measuring a mere 18 mm in diameter; and in 1892, the first Minute Repeater wristwatch. Finally, in 1910, a Minute Repeater pocket-watch featured a magnificent movement characteristic of the elegant aesthetics cherished by the watchmakers of the Vallée de Joux. A minute repeater watch strikes on demand a low-pitched note for each hour, a double high- and low-pitched note for the quarters, and a high-pitched note for every minute that has elapsed since the last quarter. It calls for a particularly sophisticated mechanism, since the watch must not only be tuned like a musical instrument, but must also “know” at any time how many notes it must strike.

Throughout the 20th century, this know-how was displayed and consolidated in timepieces much coveted by connoisseurs, in which striking mechanisms are often combined with other complex mechanisms. In 1992, Audemars Piguet presented a wristwatch combining a Minute Repeater mechanism with another of its specialities: jumping hours. As early as 1924, making a complete break with the standard analog reading of time, the Manufacture in Le Brassus had introduced a pocket-watch with jumping hours and small seconds at 6 o’clock, distinguished by the inherently understated elegance of Art Deco.

A state-of-the-art Minute Repeater

The Audemars Piguet Calibre 2907 driving the new Jules Audemars Jumping Hour Minute Repeater is clearly inspired by the movement of the historical 1992 model, whereas the architecture has been entirely redesigned to match the new case dimensions. Audemars Piguet has implemented innovative solutions to accommodate the relatively large movement and the complex striking mechanism within a diameter of just 43 mm. Blending traditional expertise and cutting-edge technologies, the Manufacture has also endowed the audible mechanism with all the fine-tuned technical details that distinguish its latest generation of Minute Repeaters. In particular, the movement has been equipped with a device that does eliminate any audible gap when the watch does not need to strike a quarter (e.g. 9:13); the sequence of 9 hours and 13 minutes is thus struck smoothly and without any interruption. Minute Repeater watches generally preclude any manual time-setting when the striking mechanism is in operation, since this might damage the movement. To remedy this problem, Audemars Piguet has developed a system that disengages the time-setting system while the watch is striking. This set of breakthrough developments thereby enhances the reliability, the security and the user-friendliness of Minute Repeater watches, while remaining true to the aesthetic appearance of the vintage models. The jumping hour mechanism has also been optimised. So as to enlarge the numerals while making sure the disc was not too large for the movement, watchmakers had to rethink the positioning of the disc and shift it towards the centre of the calibre.

A highly contemporary face

In terms of aesthetics, Audemars Piguet has redesigned the round case of the Jules Audemars collection in a resolutely contemporary spirit. The slimmer bezel ensures maximum dial opening, creating a fine impression of space and lightness. The shimmering reflections of the finely polished and brushed pink gold or platinum surfaces emphasise the pure lines of the case featuring two lugs smoothly integrated with the bracelet. The dial also reinterprets the signature Jules Audemars classicism in a beautifully balanced composition. Its opaline base is adorned with a minute track and applied blued Arabic numerals radiating a modern and dynamic appeal. The hour aperture with its disc jumping instantly from one figure to another every sixty minutes is distinguished by a bevelled opening. The minutes are displayed in the dial centre by a flame-blued steel hand in the “Poire Paris” style. The small seconds tick away on a snailed subdial at 6 o’clock with a hollowed structure highlighted by a track motif and an original hollow-tipped baton hand.

The spirit of the Vallée

A sapphire crystal caseback enables one to admire the hand-wound Calibre 2907 with its 412 parts and its balance beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour. The architecture of this movement is entirely in harmony with the characteristic style favoured by the Vallée de Joux. The perfectly alignment of the three gear-train jewels forced the watchmakers to rebuild the entire going train. The rounded shape of most of the bridges almost appears to be drawn with a compass, starting with the crown-wheel. The finishing on the various parts is in keeping with the finest regional traditions, including mirror-polished surfaces and the care devoted to interior and external angles. All parts are finely bevelled and rhodium-plated and, depending on the specific part, decorated with “côtes de Genève” or stippled. In an exquisitely refined styling detail, the “côtes de Genève” adorning the bridges are lined up with the three gear-train jewels. This beautiful mechanical symphony is surrounded by the two Minute Repeater gongs that are struck by the two small hammers.

The brand from Le Brassus draws all eyes by creating a new setting for its revolutionary escapement mechanism first introduced in 2006: the pink gold Millenary watch with deadbeat seconds. Showcasing the exceptional expertise of Audemars Piguet, this creation with its surprising design admirably embodies the inventive traditions of the watchmakers from the Vallée de Joux.

In the vanguard

From tourbillons and minute repeaters to perpetual calendars and chronographs, Audemars Piguet has established itself since 1875 as a virtuoso exponent of these complications. Its watchmakers have always done their utmost to optimise the basic movement components in order to enhance their accuracy and their reliability. This is especially true of the escapement, which plays an essential role in the watch by maintaining and “counting” the oscillations of the regulating organ (the balance and its spring). Inspired by a mechanism created in the late 18th century by Robin, Audemars Piguet has developed a brand-new system combining the high efficiency of a direct-impulse escapement with the reliability of a Swiss lever escapement. The watchmakers in Le Brassus have thereby succeeded in reducing the energy lost by the most high-consumption component of the movement, without resorting to the use of new materials (such as silicon), and avoiding any need for lubrication. The world première of this major technological breakthrough came in 2006 with the presentation of the world-first Cabinet N° 5 watch in the Tradition d’Excellence collection.

High efficiency

Compared with a standard Swiss lever escapement, the Audemars Piguet movement offers the following advantages:

• No need for lubrication on the pallet-stones: the distinctive geometry of the Audemars Piguet escapement means it can do without any lubrication, thereby facilitating maintenance and avoiding any clogging from the accumulation of greasy paste once the oil has evaporated. A watchmaker’s dream!
• Detached single-beat escapement: a single impulse corresponds to two vibrations, thus decreasing disturbance to the rate and promoting extremely high efficiency.
• Direct impulse on the balance: the energy is transmitted directly from the escapement to the balance instead of via the lever, thereby reducing energy losses and increasing efficiency.
• High efficiency: in a movement equipped with a Swiss lever escapement, the latter absorbs 70% of the energy. The system developed by Audemars Piguet absorbs only 50%, representing a considerable gain in efficiency compared to a classic movement.
• Excellent shock-resistance: the meticulously developed shape of the various parts (especially the guard-pin) and their ultraprecise machining guarantee optimal security against “tripping” and “overbanking”.
• Long-term stability: the tests conducted over the past five years have shown that this escapement displays excellent operational stability.
• Improved chronometry: the isochronism of the sprung balance may be adjusted by shifting the locking-point in relation to the impulse provided by the balance; a reduction in mechanical disturbances to the balance improves the overall precision of the movement.

An open heart

To highlight its new escapement, Audemars Piguet has created a watch featuring an astonishing design with a highly contemporary architecture that completely reinvents the aesthetic codes of Haute Horlogerie. This resolutely daring approach begins with the beautifully proportioned pink gold oval Millenary case with its original, elegant and sophisticated shape underscored by the subtle contrast between the brushed middle and the polished bezel. Nonetheless, the main surprise stems from the entirely open dial with its off-centred displays. The three-dimensional design creates attractive overlapping and depth effects. This arresting visual performance is enlivened by the pulsations of the regulating organ, the jerking motion of the deadbeat seconds and the rotation of the two visible barrels, alternately hiding and revealing the “Echappement” and “Audemars Piguet” inscriptions. True artists at heart, the craftsmen in Le Brassus have also played with materials and relief effects to create an extremely varied and almost rhythmical array of structures and surfaces, including horizontal “côtes de Genève” on the two sides of the oval centre plate, fine circular grooves on the hour and minute dial, and an original embossed motif on the twin barrels. Completing this fascinating picture, the openworked hands and blued Roman numerals make a perfect match for this sophisticated technical and metallic appearance.

A beating heart

With its regulating organ drawing all eyes to 9 o’clock, the new Millenary with deadbeat seconds provides a live lesson in mechanical watchmaking. The star of the show is of course the new escapement with the sharp edges of the wheel, its guard-pin and the unusual shape of its ruby pallet-stones. The escapement platform has in fact been turned around so as to make the escapement visible from the dial side, and the plate has been hollowed to reveal the mechanism. One can thus admire the large variable-inertia balance guaranteeing enhanced chronometry, and the small white gold inertia-blocks enabling fine adjustment. A discerning eye will also note an unusual construction in terms of the balance-spring. Calibre 2905 features two balance-springs placed one on top of the other, but at a 180° angle. This “head-to-tail” flat double balance-spring system has several advantages. It does away with the need for the so-called Breguet overcoils on balance-springs, which are very tricky to build, and thus avoids the potential inconveniences linked to the slightly asymmetrical development of the balance-spring. It automatically compensates for the possible poising flaws of the balance-springs and it eliminates imprecisions due to the vertical position of the watch without needing to resort to a device as sophisticated as a tourbillon. All these distinctive features enable an extremely fine adjustment of the sprung balance, which beats at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour, resulting in improved precision.

A chronograph timepiece enriches the 2009 Audemars Piguet Millenary watch collection. The opulent oval form of the Millenary–an evocation of the great Roman Coliseum–has given a stately housing to everything from a basic self-winding movement with a date function, up to virtuosic haute horlogerie masterpieces such as the “Tradition of Excellence” Cabinet No. 5 and Millenary MC-12 Tourbillon. The addition of a basic chronograph affirms the traditional dedication by Audemars Piguet to offering a comprehensive selection of timepieces covering the gamut of horological specialties.

The Audemars Piguet 2009 Millenary Chronograph watch features a case in 18-karat pink gold measuring 47mm x 42mm; masterfully executed brushed metal surfaces exude understated elegance; the bezel, strap lugs, and elliptical chronograph buttons present an alluring, luxurious contrast. The two-zone Millenary dial is exceptional in its intricate detail and conveys an appealing mixture of classicism and Baroque extravagance; applied Roman numerals in polished rose gold flare expressively outwards on the concentrically grooved black section which contains the three silvery chronograph subdials. The rich brown outer dial segment is adorned with the brilliant blue tachymeter scale, which bends outward in the opposite direction of the Roman numeral hour markers. The gold caseback is secured down with screws, and displays the engraved Millenary logo.

Ticking inside the Audemars Piguet Millenary Chronograph watch is the refined self-winding Caliber 2385, one of the world’s slimmest automatic chronograph movements with a column-wheel and a fully integrated mechanism. A balance frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour enables the chronograph feature to record independent periods of time within 30 minutes or up to 12 hours, with 1/6th second precision. A valuable supplemental function is the rapidly adjustable date display. Power reserve of the barrel is 40 hours. In all, the Caliber 2385 comprises more than 300 parts, each painstakingly finished by hand in Audemars Piguet’s Le Brassus atelier.

The Audemars Piguet Millenary Chronograph watch is fitted with a flat sapphire crystal, and a crocodile leather strap with blue stitching of the same hue as the dial tachymeter scale. A pink gold folding clasp shaped in the form of the Audemars Piguet initials ensures a comfortable and elegant fitment to the wrist. The watch is rated water resistant to 20 meters.