As it celebrates its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet has just announced one of the most significant innovations in the world of watch complications: a new generation of self-winding, perpetual calendar movement. Named the Calibre 7138, it allows for the first time access to all the functionality of a perpetual calendar watch through an all-in-one crown.
A perpetual calendar watch – also referred to in watch circles as QP, from the initials for the French term quantieme perpetuel – is a mechanical timepiece that tracks and displays an array of calendar information on its dial. This typically includes the day of the week, date of the month, leap years and moon phases.
They are some of the most complicated pieces in horology, making them also some of the most expensive. In these new watches from Audemars Piguet, the perpetual calendar, which mechanically reproduces the movement of celestial bodies, has been entirely rethought.
“Astronomy is the mother of watchmaking,” says Sebastian Vivas, heritage and museum director for Audemars Piguet. “Calendar watches have evolved over time to capture the cycles of celestial bodies with a combination of small cams and gears. Among them, the perpetual calendar, one of the most complex in this category, is like a small mechanical computer on the wrist, capable of keeping the date correct for an entire century.”
The brand has some pedigree in this area of watchmaking, creating what are referred to as complicated movements since its founding in Le Brassus, Switzerland, in 1875.
The new movement makes its debut on a 41mm Code 11.59 in 18-carat white gold, and on two 41mm Royal Oak models in stainless steel or 18-carat sand gold. Those models are also being offered in anniversary editions limited to 150 pieces each.
While at first glance the anniversary versions may look similar to the other pieces being released, they carry a few subtle design cues that mark them apart. Most notably, besides being numbered, they carry a vintage Audemars Piguet signature inspired by archival documents. These are particularly striking on the Royal Oak variations, as the cursive heritage logo contrasts nicely with the legendary model’s 1970s octagonal aesthetics.
To the uninitiated, it might seem that making control of a few dials through a single crown on the side of a watch is a simple enough task. They would be wrong. The development process took five years to perfect and is protected by five patents.
Traditional perpetual calendar watches are usually equipped with correctors inserted in the side of the case, which are activated by using a small tool to adjust the various subdials. This is an age-old system that is pretty cumbersome and fiddly. Watch owners have been known to damage their timepieces by trying to make these adjustments. Most end up taking them to their nearest dealership for maintenance.
When the announcement was made on stage in the media preview that all the dials would now be adjustable from a single crown, excited celebratory noises rippled in the auditorium. The watch press – and watch collectors – take things like this very seriously.
The new crown incorporates four different positions. The first enables the wearer to wind the watch clockwise. Pulling the crown out one step further allows you to set the date clockwise and to adjust the month and the leap year in the opposite direction. By pulling the crown out again to a third position, the user can set the time bidirectionally. The last position is reached by pushing the crown back one step to set the day and week clockwise and the moon phases counter-clockwise. Again, it sounds simple, but it took five years for the best minds in horology to figure out the mechanism.
In 1978, at the height of the quartz crisis, the brand broke a record with the world’s thinnest self-winding, perpetual calendar wristwatch of its time, Calibre 2120/2800. Quartz threatened the very survival of watchmaking, as it eliminated the need for complicated mechanics. Hundreds of watchmakers packed up their tools for good during this era in the area surrounding Le Brassus.
But Audemars Piguet endured, insisting on making its watches even more mechanical and more complicated. It is easy to think that mechanical watches serve no purpose – after all you can just stare at your phone for an accurate time – but they undeniably serve a deeper meaning.
To witness the launch of these watches and be walked through the intricate mechanisms that make up their components, we were invited to spend two nights in the Vallee de Joux. We spent them at Audemars Piguet’s own hotel, Hotel des Horlogers, which is alongside its museum and a few steps away from its new factory. Going out for an evening stroll and looking up at the sky, you get a sense of why generation after generation of watchmakers in this area became fascinated with the movement of celestial bodies.
On a clear night as you look up you can see what seems like every star in the universe. Living out here 150 years ago, the thought of taming that sky and the eternity it represents through the intricate mechanisms of a watch must have been too much to resist.
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The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Manchester City 4
Otamendi (52) Sterling (59) Stones (67) Brahim Diaz (81)
Real Madrid 1
Oscar (90)
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
VERSTAPPEN'S FIRSTS
Youngest F1 driver (17 years 3 days Japan 2014)
Youngest driver to start an F1 race (17 years 166 days – Australia 2015)
Youngest F1 driver to score points (17 years 180 days - Malaysia 2015)
Youngest driver to lead an F1 race (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest driver to set an F1 fastest lap (19 years 44 days – Brazil 2016)
Youngest on F1 podium finish (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest F1 winner (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest multiple F1 race winner (Mexico 2017/18)
Youngest F1 driver to win the same race (Mexico 2017/18)
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
