The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar John Mayer Limited Edition didn’t start as a collaboration. “This project actually started, not from a decision to work together on a watch, but in a really authentic way, which was me designing a piece unique, which was going to be a representation of everything I loved about the QP,” explains the artist during Audemars Piguet’s Social Club meeting in Milan. “I only ever wanted this piece to represent a piece unique for me, and when I sent it to Francois [Bennahmias] back in 2021, the most flattering thing happened when he said ‘We should make several of these’.”
Three years later, the piece is being revealed to the world’s watch lovers today. The seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist’s talents are obviously not confined to the world of music as he has eloquently created his very own interpretation of the much-loved perpetual calendar complication. “I think when you're redesigning something, it's nice to change the colors, but if you can change the practical applications or functionality of something with a real understanding as to why you want to, then you've brought the piece to life in a different way,” he explains.
The first thing that catches the eye is the dial’s background, which presents a totally new way of depicting a scintillating starry night sky. Called “Crystal Sky”, the dial is an embossed motif that is composed of irregular shapes resembling crystals, whose sharp angles and facets add relief and brilliance to the surface. To achieve this detail and complexity, the stamping die was created atom by atom, through a metal deposition process known as electroforming.
The changes don’t stop there as Mayer has modified the design of the numbers 31 and 1 on the date subdial. Traditionally the passage of the month is visually marked by a red 31, but Mayer wanted to keep the uniformity of the colours by using a diagonal step down of the 31, which is also slightly smaller.
He has also worked on the week indicator that runs around the dial. At first view, it is hardly noticeable, which is the point. He wanted it to be there when you need it, but disappear from view when you don’t. “I think that, for me, great design comes from when you strip away the noise,” he shares.
This will be the last collection to be powered by Audemars Piguet’s perpetual calendar Calibre 5134, making this edition even more special. “This watch turned people onto perpetual calendars who would never have otherwise worn a perpetual calendar – sports figures, heads of state, musicians, artists, people that normally wouldn't have found a QP through the normal route of horological interest. There are people now who are wearing a QP, and discussing a QP, and for that, we all have this one reference to thank. And so for me, to have the opportunity to be the swan song with a brand new dial that says goodbye to a calibre and hello to a dial technique is really interesting and cutting edge,” he concludes.
Limited to only 200 pieces, this “Swan Song” collection is surely going to go to the top of the watch charts and attract even more people to the perpetual calendar complication.
