Le soleil a rendez-vous avec la lune Mais la lune n’est pas là et le soleil attend Ici-bas souvent chacun pour sa chacune Chacun doit en faire autant La lune est là, la lune est là La lune est là, mais le soleil ne la voit pas Pour la trouver, il faut la nuit Il faut la nuit, mais le soleil ne le sait pas et toujours luit...

Charles Trenet

These minutes that flow by in the glow of daylight or in the depths of the night have inspired the Manufacture to create a new collection: Millenary Starlit Sky. By choosing to highlight the sky and all the stories its constellations have to tell, Audemars Piguet has found an infinitely poetic way of reminding us that time is determined first and foremost by… the celestial luminaries.

The perpetual course of the sun, moon and stars, the dance of the seasons, the mystery of the moon, the flaming glow of the sun, the alternation of day and night… The sky has forever inspired writers and poets, offering its splendours to the artistic vision of painters and photographers, and giving rise to wonderful tales that continue to make children dream the world over. For horologers, the sky is also a perpetual source of inspiration. Their attentive observations of the moon and the sun gave rise to the first units of time measurements, the first calendars, the first clocks. Today, Audemars Piguet pays tribute to the beauties of the sky by creating the Millenary Starlit Sky collection: two watches dedicated to the depths of the night and a third dedicated to the clear light of day. Three timepieces which celebrate “Le Temps Ovale” expressed through particularly poetic complex mechanisms.

A white gold oval case, partially or entirely set with diamonds, frames a dial featuring an off-centred yet predominant subdial on the right-hand side. The latter depicts a deep blue sky sprinkled with stardust and sparkling with five diamond stars. The latter are in fact hour-markers shining with a precious halo that lights up the elegant, blueish large numerals.
The upper portion of this celestial canopy is illuminated by a comet: the power-reserve display. Its tapering shape symbolises the state of winding of the watch, itself indicated by the small faceted and polished pink gold hand running along it.

At 6 o’clock, in a disc rimmed by a circle of Arabic numerals, a wave-shaped hand tipped with a golden star points to the date.

On the other side of this starlit night, the left portion of the dial is composed of a white mother-of-pearl or diamond-pavé crescent graced with Roman numerals evoking the pale rays of a red moon...

These two environments, the depths of a starlit night on one side and moonlight on the other, are swept over by faceted and polished white gold hour and minute hands, while the more understated seconds hand fitted with a circular counterweight is crafted in pink gold.

Finally, at 9 o’clock between the shimmering lunar scene and the intense blue of the night, a round aperture with a puffy cloud base shows the moon phases.

This poetic association of solar and lunar calendars is matched by a midnight blue brushed satin strap complete with a double-blade white gold folding clasp set with diamonds.

To celebrate the daytime, the Millenary Starlit Sky opts for a pink gold case set with diamonds framing a milky white dial. The night and the moon crescent have disappeared, giving way to the plenitude of natural mother-of-pearl. The off-centred dial is adorned with generously elegant numerals and Roman hour-markers.

The moon-phase aperture floats on its cloud, while the comet has turned into an edelweiss with a tiny diamond heart and the centre of the date disc glows with the flaming rays of the sun.

Finally, this study in white is matched by an immaculate satin strap equipped with a double-blade pink gold folding clasp set with diamonds.

As an ultimate tribute to watchmakers – and because many women truly appreciate the subtleties of mechanical watchmaking – the Millenary Starlit Sky is equipped with the particularly innovative Calibre 3120 movement developed by Audemars Piguet. In this version (3123/3908), it also incorporates the complex power-reserve and moon-phase mechanisms.

This selfwinding calibre developed by Audemars Piguet is distinguished by a certain number of characteristics, starting with a direct-drive centre seconds hand that does away with one source of friction. The cross-through balance-bridge also ensures enhanced reliability, while the rating precision is further improved thanks to an over sixty-hour power reserve. In addition to these innovations, Calibre 3120 offers several extremely user-friendly features:

• a time-setting system equipped with a balance-stop mechanism that holds the seconds hand motionless;
  
• ultra-precise adjustment that remains stable thanks to a variable inertia balance fitted with eight inertia-blocks;
  
• rapid date adjustment using the crown;
  
• bidirectional automatic winding driven by a 22-carat gold rotor mounted on ceramic ball-bearings.

Visible through the sapphire crystal caseback – and surrounded by two diamond half-moons in the entirely gem-set version – this movement is endowed with high-end finishing as well as a special decoration in the shape of an oscillating weight adorned with the family crests of the company founders Audemars and Piguet.

Reference : Night theme
77315BC.ZZ.D007SU.01	:	18-carat white gold case, 18-carat white gold bezel and lugs set with 112 brilliant-cut diamonds (~ 1.05 carats), midnight blue and white mother-of-pearl dial
77316BC.ZZ.D007SU.01	:	18-carat white gold case, bezel and lugs set with 388 brilliant-cut diamonds (~ 3.90 carats), dial featuring diamond-pavé zone and midnight blue zone adorned with six diamonds
Reference : Day theme
77315OR.ZZ.D013SU.01	:	18-carat pink gold case, 18-carat pink gold bezel, lugs and bracelet buckle set with 112 brilliant-cut diamonds (~ 1.05 carats), white mother-of-pearl dial
Movement
Calibre	:	3123/3908, selfwinding
Diameter	:	26 mm
Casing diameter	:	11.5 lignes (25 mm)
Thickness	:	5.68 mm
		45 jewels
Power reserve	:	up to 62 hours
Cadence of the balance	:	21,600 vibrations per hour
Finishing	:	all parts decorated by hand; oscillating weight adorned with the Audemars and Piguet family crests
Case and bezel	:	18-carat white or pink gold satin-brushed/polished case set with brilliant-cut diamonds
Width	:	39.5 mm
		Sapphire crystal caseback
Water-resistance	:	20 m
Crown	:	18-carat white or pink gold set with a blue or translucent cabochon-cut sapphire (~ 0.25 carats)
Dial : Night theme
		Off-centred midnight blue disc, tone-on-tone Arabic numerals, half-moon zone in white mother-of-pearl or diamond-pavé with applied Roman numerals
Hands	:	– hours and minutes: 18-carat white gold, faceted and polished– centre seconds: pink gold, straight with a circular counterweight– power reserve: pink gold, faceted and polished– date: wave-shaped, pink and tipped with a star
Dial : Day theme
		White mother-of-pearl off-centred disc, light blue Arabic numerals, half-moon white mother-of-pearl zone with applied Roman numerals, date counter with golden “Sun” motif, power reserve with applied “Edelweiss” motif set with a diamond
Hands	:	– hours and minutes: 18-carat pink gold, faceted and polished – centre seconds: blued, straight with a circular counterweight – power reserve: blued, faceted and polished – date: blued, wave-shaped
Strap	:	Rolled-edge midnight blue or white brushed satin, V-shaped stitching on the tapered end, exclusive AP double-blade folding clasp in 18-carat pink or white gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds
Functions	:	Hours and minutes Small seconds Power reserve Moon phases Date
The diamonds used for setting Audemars Piguet watches are of Top Wesselton IF (Internally Flawless) quality. The sapphires are natural. Each watch comes with a certificate specifying the number, the quality and the weight of the precious stones.