Audemars Piguet launches CODE 11.59 line of watches at SIHH 2019

Audemars Piguet is known mainly for its Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore line of watches. But it wants to change that, starting this year’s SIHH.

It has just unveiled ‘CODE 11.59 by Audemars Piguet’ an entirely new range of watches with all new movements and complications, and a design ethos that’s about as far away from the Royal Oak as you can get.

The response from the watch community so far is mixed, with watch snobs loudly panning the new watches, comparing them to similar models by the likes of Daniel Wellington and Emporio Armani (which are far, far cheaper watches). The name also sounds like a bad cologne advert.

Critical reception side, the new line of watches was in development for more than half a decade and is made up of 13 references across six models. You get an all-new case architecture that makes use of both hexagonal and round elements, at a size of 42-millimeters.

The watch dials come in all shapes and sizes, from plain white and blues with a date window at the four o’clock position, all the way to grander complications including chronograph and flying tourbillon models.

Only 2,000 CODE 11.59 models will be made in 2019, but Audemars Piguet intends to grow that number until they make up 20 percent of the brand’s total production demand.