This Thursday, January 22, the sky hangs particularly low over Le Brassus. Yet it is with a palpable intensity that the sun shines in the eyes (and hearts) of the Audemars Piguet teams on this day of the official inauguration of the Arc. “A new manufacture located some 800 meters from the house where, 150 years ago, Jules-Louis Audemars and Édouard-Auguste Piguet settled to create Audemars Piguet,” recalls Olivier Audemars, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also emphasizes that “2025 has been a year of exceptional growth for Audemars Piguet in an extremely challenging watchmaking environment,” before praising the work accomplished by Ilaria Resta since her arrival in 2023.
Her work has notably focused on innovation and on placing the customer experience at the heart of the company’s priorities: “This new manufacture was conceived as a tool in the service of innovation and our teams,” she explains of this industrial project of phenomenal scale. “It brings together, in a single location, the skills and expertise that were previously spread across several sites in the Vallée de Joux, in order to encourage exchange, collaboration, and efficiency.”
An Arc drawn toward the future, ready to embrace the next 150 years!
Strength through unity
The integration of Audemars Piguet's highly contemporary spiral-shaped museum into the former Manufacture and the now famous Hôtel des Horlogers constitutes a complex that has become a place of pilgrimage for watch lovers from around the world. The same spirit of aesthetics and efficiency applies to the Arc, the first building of the new Manufacture in Le Brassus, a stone's throw from the old one. Imagine a curved (hence its name, Arc) 321-meter-long facade and 23,700 square meters of multifunctional spaces on several levels. As well as being equipped with state-of-the-art technology in terms of production and comfortable working conditions, these premises are also Minergie Eco© certified. During the presentation of the new Royal Oak RD#5 flying tourbillon chronograph this fall, the brand's CEO Ilaria Resta stated that innovation must be reflected in ergonomics, which certainly applies to the new Manufacture.
An agile giant
It took more than three years to build this new temple to Haute Horlogerie, whose silver facade and grid of electrochromic glass windows recall the famous tapisserie pattern adorning Royal Oak dials. This omnipresent glazing not only provides essential natural light for the production workforce, but also constantly adapts to the outside light and heat to promote their well-being. Occupied during the year of the 150th anniversary celebrations by 700 employees previously spread across different production sites, the Arc—serves to unite them under one roof (naturally covered with vegetation) —was designed to ultimately accommodate 1,400 employees.
Inside, visitors are welcomed into an entrance hall picking up the Arc's architectural elements, notably expressed through a glittering mobile hanging from the ceiling. Across the different levels and stages of watch production, everything has been designed to optimize production flows and the quality of life of the various teams in the workplace. The workshops are interspersed with numerous open, welcoming spaces for interaction (lounges, cafeterias). This comfortable working environment is also enhanced by high-tech tools supporting artisans and enabling them to focus on their exper-tise. Without giving away any design secrets, it is worth mentioning a superb system equipped with 66 robots and shuttles designed for component storage and distribution in various workshops. Standing 15 meters high and capable of performing 350 movements per hour, this automated tool "learns" and will triple its productivity in five years. The respect for employees and the love of fine products represented in this Manufacture go hand in hand with a commitment to sustainable development and local social ties that are illustrated in many ways, all perfectly in line with Audemars Piguet's DNA.
