The Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is delighted to present its 2022 programme coinciding with the celebration of the Royal Oak’s 50th anniversary. In tribute to the iconic timepiece, the Musée Atelier offers an exclusive “Royal Oak’s Origins” Masterclass, available throughout the year, where participants will dive deep into the model’s history and exceptional craftsmanship. For the occasion, the Musée Atelier has also invited Audemars Piguet Contemporary to curate a new temporary art exhibition which will be on view as part of the museum’s general guided tour throughout 2022. Entitled Transformation-Matière, this exhibition is inspired by the material transformation at the heart of the Royal Oak and brings together a body of contemporary artworks on loan from Swiss and international artists. Lastly, the Musée Atelier is expanding its visitor experience by including guided tours on Saturday mornings and by offering a new entertaining guided visit for children aged 6 to 12 on Wednesday afternoons.
A Masterclass dedicated to the Royal Oak
To celebrate the Royal Oak’s jubilee, the Musée Atelier presents a dedicated Masterclass, entitled “Royal Oak’s Origins,” which blends theory and practice. Limited to 4 participants, this three-hour experience taking place on Thursday afternoons will send visitors on an exclusive journey at the heart of the Royal Oak. After diving into the history of this iconoclast turned icon through ancient timepieces and archival documents, participants will sit at the workbench to assemble both a replica of the watch’s original case and part of one of its current mechanisms, Calibre 4302. Lastly, they will try their hand at the timepiece’s trademark finishing techniques. Conceived like the facets of a diamond, the Royal Oak’s multiple geometries have often been highlighted by an alternation of satin-brushing and polished chamfers offering an ever-changing play of light. First adorning the original model’s steel case and bracelet, this combination of hand-finishing techniques has contributed to ennobling steel and making the Royal Oak truly unique since 1972. The “Royal Oak’s Origins” Masterclass will be available to the public from 21 April 2022 for the duration of a year.
Transformation-Matière
To further the celebration, the Musée Atelier has invited the expertise of Audemars Piguet Contemporary – the Manufacture’s art programme that commissions and supports contemporary artists – to devise a temporary exhibition reflecting on the transformation of materials in current artistic practices. Part of the Musée Atelier’s general guided tour, this exhibition is on view till December 15, 2022. Transformation-matière takes as its starting point the creation of the Royal Oak in 1972, when for the first time in Haute Horlogerie, steel was ennobled to the same status as gold. This transformation was made possible thanks to the exceptional hand finishing of the steel case and bracelet. From this point of inspiration, the artworks presented in the exhibition all exemplify how working with a new materiality can lead artists to philosophical and emotional discoveries—not dissimilar to the process behind the creation of the Royal Oak 50 years ago. Transformation-matière brings together a group of existing works on loan from Swiss and international artists, including Nina Beier, Latifa Echakhch, Raphael Hefti, Olivier Laric and Christodoulos Panayiotou. Curated by Audemars Piguet Contemporary, this exhibition draws a parallel to contemporary artists’ use of material transformation within their practice today and explores what a material itself can signify or symbolise when treated in a singular way. The origin of materials, their novelty, or a simple transformation reveal the emotional and narrative potential of each art object.
Immersive Experiences for the youngest and the whole family
The Musée Atelier is delighted to announce its first interactive visit for children, aged 6 to 12, which will take place on Wednesday afternoons. The guided visit’s content is adapted to the younger public by blending didacticism and entertainment for a fun experience. This dedicated tour will give children a unique perspective of the Vallée de Joux and its watchmaking history by offering a different take on the Musée Atelier’s display of some 300 timepieces spanning over two centuries of remarkable horological craftsmanship. The young audience will also be 3 introduced to the museum’s unique architecture. The Musée Atelier unifies the original workshop, established by Audemars Piguet’s founders in 1875, with a highly contemporary all-glass structure made up of two spirals, designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, that seamlessly integrate into the Vallée de Joux’s pastoral landscape. In addition, in-situ production workshops are interwoven with the museum’s spatial experience to bring visitors in close contact with the Manufacture’s craftspeople at work. Lastly, the Musée Atelier is happy to introduce new guided visit hours on Saturday mornings as of April 2022, to favour family’s cultural outings and better fit with visitors’ work-life balance.
The Musée Atelier’s 2022 programme will thus immerse all visitors into Audemars Piguet’s cultural universe and beyond, while offering them a unique perspective of the role the Royal Oak has played in the brand’s last 50 years.
