Continuing with the releases for its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet has returned to the format that preceded the wristwatch yet remains central to the Manufacture's most ambitious technical expressions. The Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage Ultra-Complication Universal Calendar pocket watch, reference 75150PT.OO.01, in platinum, stands as a direct descendant of Le Brassus’s legendary ultra-complications: the 1899 L’Universelle and the 1921 La Grosse Pièce, pieces that established the brand's mastery of astronomical complications and grande sonnerie mechanisms, and which are in the Audemars Piguet Musée Atelier.
Audemars Piguet Universelle Pocket Watch from 1899
Things to Know About the Watch
The 50mm platinum case showcases métiers d'art executed at the highest level. Every surface receives hand-engraving—commemorative motifs and the 150-year anniversary emblem transform functional architecture into narrative sculpture. The caseback's interior doubles as a Supersonnerie soundboard crafted from sapphire crystal, enhancing acoustic performance while revealing the movement's construction. The dial demonstrates the demanding artistry of grand feu enameling. Translucent blue enamel over 18K white gold creates depth and luminosity, while hand-engraved Roman numerals and star-trail motifs evoke the experience of astronomical observation.
The 18K pink gold hands provide chromatic contrast and visual clarity, their tone echoing the tourbillon bridge visible through the movement's architecture. Even the split-second hand receives individual attention, crafted in white gold to distinguish its specialized function.
At 23.4mm thick, the case accommodates this mechanical complexity while maintaining proportions appropriate to the pocket watch format. The accompanying hand-made platinum chain honors traditional chain-making craftsmanship, completing a creation where every element—from metallurgy to miniature sculpture—receives equal consideration.
The Movement
The true innovation resides in the caseback: the Universal Calendar, a groundbreaking lunisolar mechanism that unites solar, lunar, and combined cycles within a single mechanical calculator. Where conventional perpetual calendars track the Gregorian system, this device maps the relationship between astronomical phenomena, offering collectors a panoramic view of celestial rhythms that have governed timekeeping since antiquity. It represents not an iteration but a reimagining of how mechanical timepieces can interpret cosmic periodicity.
At its heart beats Calibre 1150, an entirely new manual-wound movement comprising 1,099 components across 81 jewels that orchestrate 40 distinct functions—22 of which qualify as complications under traditional definitions. The architecture integrates a Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie with minute repeater, a split-seconds flyback chronograph, and a flying tourbillon oscillating at 3 Hz, all sustained by a 60-hour power reserve. Yet the caliber's technical prowess serves as a foundation rather than a conclusion.
Complete List of Complications
Here are the 60 functions that can be counted as complications under FH standards—28 autonomous complications plus 32 intuitive mechanized ergonomic functions.
Tourbillon (by convention)
Day indication
Date indication
Large date display
Month indication
Year indication, units, and tens discs (semi-Gregorian calendar)
Mechanical leap-year calculation (semi-Gregorian calendar, with indication)
Mechanical calculation of the centennial leap-year exception (100/400 years, with indication)
Moon-phase mechanism
Moon display
Chronograph seconds indication
Chronograph minutes indication
Chronograph hours indication
Split-seconds
Hour-strike repeater mechanism
Quarter-strike repeater mechanism
Grande sonnerie
Petite sonnerie
Minute repeater
Year indication, units and tens discs (universal calendar)
Mechanical leap-year calculation (universal calendar, with indication)
Centuries and millennia disc
Indication of the year (common or leap year)
Mobile leap-year annual calendar disc
Mobile lunar calendar disc
Mobile week disc
Mobile pointer for cultural celebrations
New moon pointers following the Hijri system
Intuitive Mechanized Ergonomics: 29. High-amplitude escapement 30. Hours and minutes display (legibility/reading ergonomics) 31. Bidirectional time-setting 32. Shock protection 33. Quick date correction 34. Bidirectional date correction 35. Bidirectional quick month correction 36. Indirect quick year correction 37. Unidirectional quick day correction 38. Unidirectional quick moon correction 39. Start/stop chronograph mechanism (non-jumping hand) 40. Chronograph reset mechanism (controlled force) 41. Flyback mechanism 42. Activation/deactivation mechanism for the split-seconds 43. Chiming "silent mode" 44. Chiming/display synchronisation mechanism 45. Low-consumption vertical chiming clutch 46. Delay mechanism 47. Low-consumption lifting pieces 48. High-tone hammer with elastic anti-rebound stop 49. Low-tone hammer with elastic anti-rebound stop 50. Chiming lock in case of barrel depletion 51. Chiming isolation during time-setting 52. Safety disengaging crown for chiming mechanisms 53. Unidirectional manual winding for the chiming mechanism 54. Quarter-silence function 55. Silent regulator 56. Resonance table 57. Bidirectional quick correction of the universal calendar 58. Crown control mechanism 59. Multifunction pusher at 2 o'clock 60. Multifunction pusher at 4 o'clock
Summary & Price
Audemars Piguet restricts the edition to two platinum examples, with eight additional pieces planned in 18K carat white gold. This limitation reflects both technical demands and philosophical intent: the 150 Heritage exists not as a product of serial production but as a demonstration of capabilities preserved and advanced over fifteen decades. For collectors seeking mechanical timepieces that expand rather than refine existing complications, this pocket watch represents something increasingly rare—genuine innovation in astronomical horology, executed through métiers d'art that require years of apprenticeship to master.
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