Following the Diamond trilogy (Diamond Punk, Diamond Fury and Diamond Outrage), inspired by the wintery landscape of the Vallée de Joux and started in 2015, Audemars Piguet unveiled at the 2019 SIHH a high jewellery unique piece featuring a design inspired by nature. This new creation called Sapphire Orbe is named after the river that crosses Le Brassus, home of Audemars Piguet. The Sapphire Orbe embodies a glittering river of diamonds and sapphires in graded hues of blue and orange, as night merges into day.
This piece features more than 12,000 stones, each rigorously selected, individually cut and set by hand. The central petal-shaped rings are entirely snow-set with diamonds and graded sapphires in 6 graded shades of blue and orange, each in 20 different diameters ranging from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm in size. Multifaceted, this watch offers a play of colour and light that changes depending on the perspective from which it is seen.
In the domed centre nestles the 2 cm dark blue sapphire-set globe which, when inverted, reveals the watch’s 18-carat white gold dial paved with graded orange sapphires. This spherical case houses a tiny quartz calibre. The bracelet is made of articulated diamond-set components, for maximum flexibility and comfort.
Approximately 1,050 hours were required to gem-set the Sapphire Orbe.
