The good ol’ British weather might not have caught on, but it is the middle of Summer and for Audemars Piguet that means plenty of colour. We already covered the cool new ceramic colourways for the Royal Oak Offshore, but now it’s time for their newer, more risqué collection to show a new lease of colour in ten new variations for the Code 11.59.
The new additions comprise of five distinct dials, four of which are fume lacquer, one of which is a simpler two-tone affair. The grey and two-tone we’ll come back to in a second; for now, it’s all about the beautiful purple, burgundy and blue dials with their smoked gradient, brighter at the centre and moving to black at the outer edged of the watch.
They come on both a time-and-date model and a chronograph, and in fact is one of the few times I’d say that fume works better on the latter. The depth of colour paired with the case-matched gold indexes make for a rather lovely chronograph layout. The time-and-date is still nice, but it feels like it’s missing something with its 41mm size. Take it down to 39mm and things would feel very different.
The blue and purple dials are paired with rose gold cases, while the burgundy is white gold, just as they should be. However, it’s the cases of the last two variations (four if you’re counting the chronos and time-and-dates separately) that are more interesting in that regard.
Both the black fume lacquer and the two-tone dial are presented in two-tone cases. Not that big a deal – except that rather than steel and gold, Audemars Piguet has opted for rose and white gold. Apparently it’s an industry first; I can’t think of another example off the top of my head but I could imagine that’s the case. It limits the practical compromise of two-tone (cheaper and more hardwearing) in favour of the same look with added bragging rights.
I do have to say though, the look works incredibly well on the 11.59 with its octagonal middle case, particularly with the more pared-back two-tone dial. It would definitely be at the top of my list when it comes to these five new executions; the black lacquer would be at the bottom.
All of the watches come with the same movements as the wider 11.59 collection. That means AP’s calibre 4401 column wheel flyback chrono or their 4302 in the time-and-date, complete with a 70-hour power reserve. Both are, of course, finished exceptionally.
Now if only they’d offer the two-tone in the usual steel and gold…
Price & Specs:
Model Name: Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59 Selfwinding 41mm
Ref: 15210CR.OO.A002CR.01 (smoked grey / two-tone)
15210CR.OO.A009CR.01 (grey / two-tone)
15210BC.OO.A068CR.01 (smoked burgundy / white gold)
15210OR.OO.A616CR.01 (smoked purple / pink gold)
15210OR.OO.A028CR.01 (smoked blue / pink gold)
Case/Dial: 41mm diameter x 10.7mm height, white gold, rose gold or rose gold middle case with white gold bezel, lugs and caseback
Water Resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Calibre 4302, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power Reserve: 70h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date
Strap: Hand-stitched alligator leather with pin buckle
Price: CHF 27,000, boutique exclusive
Model Name: Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59 Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm
Ref: 26393CR.OO.A002CR.01 (smoked grey / two-tone)
26393CR.OO.A009CR.01 (grey / two-tone)
26393BC.OO.A068CR.01 (smoked burgundy / white gold)
26393OR.OO.A616CR.01 (smoked purple / pink gold)
26393OR.OO.A028CR.01 (smoked blue / pink gold)
Case/Dial: 41mm diameter x 12.6mm height, white gold, rose gold or rose gold middle case with white gold bezel, lugs and caseback
Water Resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Calibre 4401, automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power Reserve: 70h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph
Strap: Hand-stitched alligator leather with pin buckle
Price: CHF 42,600, boutique exclusive
More details at Audemars Piguet.
