One-fifth of a second accuracy takes years to master. It is to this day one of the most sophisticated complications in the watchmaking mechanism and one of the hardest to perfect. Several construction types have been developed, but the most prestigious and spectacular one is the columnwheel chronograph.
A chronograph is a classical complication that measures and displays continuous or discontinuous spans of time without affecting the watch’s time-keeping functions. A center chronograph hand is started, stopped and restarted at will, then returned to zero by actioning one or more push-pieces. It is both useful in daily life and remarkably complex in technical terms.
Split second chronographs are fitted with an additional seconds hand that can be stopped in its tracks in order to measure an intermediate, or to maintain a reference time.
Developed at the design and technical department of Audemars Piguet, the Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher features a patent covering its unique functionality, which is based on a mechanism incorporating no fewer than three column wheels. One of the column wheels, located at six o'clock, controls the chronograph sequence; while the two other wheels, positioned at twelve o'clock, control the complex laptimer sequence, which corresponds with the double flyback function.
Made in Le Brassus
It takes ingenuity to strike the perfect chord and capture, precisely, the music of the spheres in the tiniest mechanism imaginable.
Learn More
The master watchmakers at Audemars Piguet create watch modules containing the vastness of the sky in a few square centimetres.
Learn More