A Snapshot Of Audemars Piguet’s Contemporary Complications

The fine art of horological complications has been a core part of Audemars Piguet since the very beginning, but its modern-day offerings are filled with recent innovations and contemporary design.

Once, watch complications were a means to an end—a mechanical solution providing a specific function, like tracking the date or an astronomical period. Artistic vanity projects did exist, of course, since invention and achievement are fundamental human pursuits. In our modern world, however, where function is entirely provided by the digital and electronic, the purpose of a mechanical complication has shifted entirely over to the artistic.

As a historical Manufacture, Audemars Piguet has been an intrinsic part of these disparate eras. Complications have been part of its makeup since its founding in 1875. In 1892, Audemars Piguet collaborated with Louis Brandt & Frère to create the first minute-repeater wristwatch in history. In 1899, it created the 26-function, 1,168-component ‘Universelle’ pocket watch, still one of the most complicated timepieces ever created. Even in a post-quartz era, it managed to deliver the thinnest self-winding perpetual calendars movement in the world in 1978, and the first-ever self-winding tourbillon wristwatch in 1986—which remains the smallest tourbillon ever produced.

This pioneering spirit has continued into the modern era, where new technologies and engineering methods have allowed radical and impressive advancements. One exemplar is its Research and Development (RD) series. Since 2015,  the series has explored innovations spanning chiming watches, ultra-thin tourbillons and perpetual calendars, ultra-complications, and, most recently, a rethought and much-refined chronograph mechanism.

Halo projects aside, the Manufacture has continued to develop and evolve its core complications. It answers a somewhat ironic demand: in an era when mechanical watches are valued as much for their craftsmanship as their utility, collectors are more discerning and selective than ever, and an actively developed, evolving approach prevents things from getting stale. Here is a cross-sectional slice of Audemars Piguet’s current complicated offerings, with recently developed movements bearing understated refinements at their core.

Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar, 38mm in 18-carat pink gold

This watch was one of three released late in 2025, a capstone of Audemars Piguet’s 150th anniversary celebrations. Earlier that year, the Manufacture debuted an all-new perpetual calendar movement, a significant watershed moment for a complication that has long been a brand signature. Calibre 5135 was being retired, the last in line that stretched back 47 years to the then-groundbreaking Calibre 2120/2800 of 1978.

Unveiled in February 2025 after five years of development, Calibre 7138 focused on ergonomics: unlike a traditional perpetual calendar, where date and other corrections are made via tool-activated pushers on the side of the case, Calibre 7138’s corrections are made entirely through the crown. This makes the complication more intuitive and convenient to adjust while reducing the risks associated with incorrect manipulation. Audemars Piguet is not the first to have such a system, but its implementation is unique, and protected by five patents. Two of these are directly related to the crown corrector system: one for month and date adjustment, and one for the unconventional fourth crown position—achieved by pushing the crown back one notch from position 3, also known as position 2’.

And then, in September 2025, the Manufacture brought the perpetual calendar to a 38mm diameter for the first time. This particular Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar is cased in pink gold, with an integrated bracelet to match, and paired with a beige dial combining snailed counters with the iconic Grande Tapisserie pattern. The result is almost, but not quite, tone-on-tone, carrying all the retro, effortless luxury that made the Royal Oak famous in the first place. It is powered by Calibre 7136, which incorporates the new generation’s ergonomic crown-adjustment system while omitting the week indication. The watch is especially svelte, combining its midsize diameter with a slim, 9.4mm case profile, making it a viable option for those who find 41mm just a tad too large—or anyone who simply desires something more understated and elegant.

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar Openworked, 41mm in 18-carat white gold and black ceramic

Launched in February of this year, this watch carries with it all the patented, all-in-one crown advancements of Audemars Piguet’s latest perpetual calendar movement—with the added bonus of the traditional craft of openworking. Calibre 7139 thus embraces the intricacy of unveiled mechanics and the artistry of hand-finished movements. The many inner angles of the bridges alone require 30 hours of work, while other classical techniques such as satin brushing, circular graining, snailing, and chamfering are on prominent display.

Despite the history behind these techniques, the final visual leans quite modern. The inner bezel is black, the subdials are ringed by smoked, dark grey sections, and the 6 o’clock moonphase has a black aventurine backdrop. The case itself is an exercise in resolved tension, combining a white gold bezel and caseback with a black ceramic case middle. And then, of course, there is the complexity of the architecture itself—Code 11:59 by Audemars Piguet’s hypermodern stylings of openwork lugs, multi-radiused sapphire crystal, ultra-thin bezel, and eight-sided case middle.

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon, 41mm in 18-carat white gold and black ceramic

This timepiece was also released in February this year, but where the previous example revels in moody, mechanical complexity, this one expresses some of the same ideas but in much lighter, more casual fashion—all set off by a judicious application of high horology. The case, once again, is black ceramic sandwiched by white gold, but the ivory-toned dial changes things up considerably—more relaxed, more elegant, yet retaining a touch of edginess thanks to the black chapter ring. The dial features the collection’s signature concentric circles pattern, developed in 2023 in collaboration with Swiss guilloché artisan Yann von Kaenel. It hosts Calibre 2950, an automatic movement featuring a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock—a pure and singular expression of horology’s most captivating complication—that debuted along with the Code 11:59 by Audemars Piguet collection in 2019.

Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph, 43mm in black ceramic and carbon

This watch is much more of a forward-thinking statement. Here, the thread of high horology may still be rooted in long ago, but in a guise of brash, modern panache. Launched in June of this year, the platform is the Royal Oak Offshore—a muscular action hero of a watch since its inception in 1993. The self-winding Calibre 2967 is a double-barrelled high complication movement that debuted in 2021, featuring a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock accompanied by a two-register flyback chronograph. The presentation is a commitment to daring, with a red opaline inner bezel and a partially openwork dial accented with red inserts. Combined with the red seconds and chronograph counter hands, it has a pointed automotive inspiration.

The case material forms part of the technical allure: the bezel and caseback are in black ceramic, while the case middle makes use of an in-house innovation—CFT (Chroma Forged Technology) carbon. Developed over five years at Audemars Piguet’s Materials Fab Lab, it is highly resistant to wear and also has a unique aesthetic, with flecks of red found within its layers. The red textured calfskin leather strap adds a final point of thematic contrast.

Discover Audemars Piguet’s timepieces at the boutique, The Starhill.

G21, G35, and UG30
Ground and Upper Ground Floor, Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur

+603 3050 2600

Open Monday to Sunday, 11:00-20:00