Instinct
Musée Atelier replica Audemars Piguet Museum is not only a production center for a great brand, but also how the brand can help maintain one of the largest resources on earth-the forest.
The Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet museum will become one of the latest must-visit attractions in Valléede Joux, Switzerland, which can be visited by watch enthusiasts and fans of the brand. As enthusiasts suspect, it is designed to be spiral, which is the hairspring or hairspring symbol of the mechanical watch escapement. The Musée Atelier Museum is located in the birthplace of Audemars Piguet, so named because two studios (Grandes Complications and Métierd’Art Studio) are housed in a spiral glass pavilion overlooking the wonderful Risoud forest.
As far as we know, realizing this museum in this way is an architectural dream and an engineering dream night. Designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and supported by Swiss construction company CCHE, the spiral is formed using curved glass. “Without any steel pillars, even the glass roof, the green roof is supported by glass.” Said Oliviero Bottinelli, a member of Audemars Piguet’s board of directors and former managing director of Audemars Piguet Asia Each curved glass panel is different because each panel is cut differently. Moreover, the glass must withstand the different temperatures in this valley. In winter, the temperature may be as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, while in summer it is very warm. Engineers must come up with a solution and make sure everything is working.
Although the museum studio is now ready, due to the popularity of Covid-19, the public exhibition originally scheduled to open at the end of May 2020 has been postponed until the end of 2020. He added: “Audemars Piguet is about complications.” “So, we want to provide our museum with something complex and beautiful. The birth of the museum is very difficult, and now it was born in a difficult period. Having said that, AP will It will exist for many years, and this is the beauty of the brand. When I first checked the design plan, I took pictures of myself from inside the museum. What I like is that I can imagine the scenery in front of my watchmaker in the past 145 years Green fields and forests. It ’s beautiful; it ’s always changing, but it ’s never changing at the same time. “
Botinelli proudly said: “More than 300 pieces on display can guide visitors through APs of different periods.” “The center of the museum (the spiral center) is one of the most complex pocket watches we made in the late 19th century. This is absolute beauty and not many people know yet … By visiting our museum, people will learn about the history and heritage of the brand. “
Although the dial is marked with “UnionGlashütte”, the super complex function (known as the Universelle astronomical pocket watch) has more than 20 complex functions, and its movement was manufactured by Audemars Piguet in 1899.
Royal Oak fans will not be disappointed. The museum has a rich display of works from the Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore and Royal Oak Concept series. He recalled: “When I saw the first Royal Oak in 1972, I immediately thought of my uncle.” “I called him uncle Georges Golay, and served as the CEO of the AP board from 1960 to 1987. And President. After 27 years of leadership, he took the brand to a new level. Without him, Royal Oak would not be there. He called Gérald Genta and decided it was what we needed. The drawing was done. Later, he had to push it forward because the board of directors did not fully believe in this model at the time. “
“When I saw this and the super automatic 1978 Perpetual Calendar automatic copy watch, I also thought of Georges Golay,” Bottinelli said. “From the museum, I can even see his house. It became my home. This is where I experienced Christmas every year for the first 18 years of my life. When I walked around in the museum and even outside the museum, I still remember when I was a kid. The scenery of the museum, green areas and forests brought back childhood memories and strong emotions. “
The Audemars Piguet Foundation is now located in the museum ’s working room, which was renovated in an old building that was previously used in the former museum. The foundation was founded in 1992 by Jasmine Audemars, the daughter of Jacques Louis Audemars, dedicated to protecting the environment and has provided financial support for more than 133 projects worldwide, including the protection of the protected Risoud forest And even activities in Borneo, Kuala Selangor Park in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. No wonder Jasmine Audemars insists that Musée Atelier must obtain Swiss Minergie certification to ensure low energy consumption in the factory.
“We can do a lot of things, but we have to be selective,” Botinelli actually said. “The idea of the AP Foundation came from Jasmine Audemars. This is a natural step because of the environment around us – the living environment of AP. We decided to help the forest first, and therefore carried out afforestation activities in Switzerland and other parts of the world. We also educated young People, and explain why forests are important and the need to protect them. Every day is the “Earth Day” of the AP Foundation. ”
Just like the AP Foundation that promotes environmental protection, the Audemars Piguet Museum naturally has a similar purpose-to retain the history and heritage of a great brand.