- Audemars Piguet has released its Watches & Wonders 2026 novelties, debuting a new project called ‘Atelier des Établisseurs’
- The Atelier des Établisseurs project will comprise highly individualised timepieces produced in limited quantities, created in collaboration with specialist craftspeople, movement designers, and watchmakers
- Atelier des Établisseurs launches with a trio of models, each reflecting the creativity that is allowed to flourish when commercial constraints are removed
- This is Audemars Piguet’s first year participating in Watches & Wonders
Audemars Piguet has released its Watches & Wonders 2026 novelties — and there’s not a Royal Oak in sight. Instead, the Le Brassus manufacture has used the fair to announce the launch of its Atelier des Établisseurs project, which seeks to bring together some of the best watchmakers and craftspeople in the industry to produce highly individualised, specialised timepieces.
The name references the concept of établissage, which dates back to the 18th century; well before vertical integration (or in-house manufacturing) was seen as the ultimate in watchmaking prestige. Rather than prioritise in-house manufacturing, this watchmaking system saw établisseurs (or ‘establishers’) acquire components sourced from individual suppliers and coordinate the work of their neighbours, friends, and family to decorate and assemble them. The établissage system was a popular one in Switzerland’s Jura mountains, with many farmers and workers turning to watchmaking during cold winters as an additional source of income. Indeed, the practice was so commonplace that many houses and farms in Audemars Piguet’s home of Le Brassus were fitted with small watchmaking workshops. Here, each watch represents the sum of its named contributors, rather than the work of a monolith. A ‘collab’, as the kids would say.
Audemars Piguet is subverting its bounds forward in vertical integration by bringing the établissage practice into the contemporary era. Each release in the Atelier des Établisseurs project prioritises the use of métiers d’art and ensures every contributor can be named, from component assembly to decoration and finishing.
Herewith, the debut trilogy from the Atelier des Établisseurs that comprises Audemars Piguet’s Watches & Wonders 2026 releases.
Établisseurs Galets
Conceptualised by designer Xavier Perrenoud, the Établisseurs Galets pays homage to the 1972 ‘Arabella’ Haute Joillarie timepiece while drawing inspiration from the smooth, organic forms of the Lac de Joux, a lake Audemars Piguet’s Le Brassus headquarters. Built around an asymmetrical turquoise dial, the similarly asymmetrical bracelet is crafted from pebble-shaped links in various sizes, executed in yellow gold and inlaid with shaped turquoise and tiger’s eye stones. The yellow gold links are connected using miniature ball joints, allowing them to curve around the wrist.
The design and craftsmanship of the turquoise asymmetrical dial are credited to Théo Massouatis and Pablo Brenlla in Geneva, with an exhibtion caseback showing off a modified version of Audemars Piguet’s first in-house movement, the calibre 3090. Dubbed the calibre 3098, the movement was modified by calibre constructor Arthur Gallezot to achieve its unique shape, with the bridges also redesigned to resemble the soft curves of pebbles.
Five variations of the Établisseurs Galets in different stone configurations will be made this year.
Creatives and artisans credited for the Établisseurs Galets:
- Watchmakers: Aline Gagneux, Joris Lavanchy
- Jewellers: Nadia Morgenthaler, Mathieu Rigault
- Designer: Xavier Perrenoud
- Dial makers: Mario Senape, Pablo Brenlla
- Stone cutter: Mario Senape
- Case designer and manufacturer: Theo Massaoutis
- Movement designer: Arthur Gallezot
- Blank manufacturer: Marco Tedeschi
- Decoration and graining: Luca Soprana
- Hand bevelling: Nathalie Jean-Louis
- Project initiation: Ilaria Resta
- Direction: Claudio Cavaliere, Sébastian Vivas
- Coordination: Nikolaas Dockx, Claude Meylan, Kevin Quaresma
Établisseurs Peacock
Next up, Audemars Piguet spreads its feathers with the Établisseurs Peacock, a white gold secret watch with an automation function designed by Kenan Géraud. When closed, it appears as a beetle on the wrist, but when activated, a secret opening function designed by Giulio Papi sees the peacock’s head rise and reveal its plumage, with the wings unfolding sideways and showing off the enamelled dial with a window for the dragging hour display, powered by the calibre 3098.2.
Three variations of the Établisseurs Peacock will be made next year.
Creatives and artisans credited for the Établisseurs Peacock:
- Watchmakers: Aline Gagneux, Joris Lavanchy
- Jeweller: Ywan Kuntzle
- Designer: Kenan Geraud
- Secret mechanism conception: Giulio Papi
- Case manufacturer: FabLab Le Sentier
- Engraving and decoration: Guy Froidevaux
- Gemsetting: Sylvain Vandel
- Movement designer: Arthur Gallezot
- Machining and blanks: Ricardo Monfardino
- Dial enamelling: Vanessa Lecci
- Côtes de Genève: Luca Soprana
- Hand bevelling: Nathalie Jean-Louis
- Shaped sapphire crystal: Alexis Bernard
- Project initiation: Ilaria Resta
- Direction: Claudio Cavaliere, Sébastian Vivas
- Coordination: Nikolaas Dockx, Claude Meylan, Kevin Quaresma
Établisseurs Nomade
Finally, the Établisseurs Nomade combines the typologies of a pocket watch and table clock. Designed by Ludovic Python, it pairs an architecturally led contemporary exterior that sees a titanium framework surround protruding faceted stones with the calibre 7501, skeletonised using a traditional hacksaw technique that Audemars Piguet has preserved since the 1930s. By pushing two buttons, the watch slides open to reveal an inner case, which has an articulated hinge that allows it to be used as a desk clock.
Audemars Piguet has said that it plans to produce around 15 examples of these in the coming years, with five variations in different stone combinations to be produced this year.
Creatives and artisans credited for the Établisseurs Nomade:
- Watchmakers: Aline Gagneux, Joris Lavanchy
- Designer: Ludovic Python
- Dial maker: Mario Senape
- Gemologist and stone cutter: Mario Senape
- Case designer and manufacturer: Emmanuel Dessuzinge
- Movement designers: Julien Martel, Claudio Dos Santos
- Blank manufacturers: Marco Tedeschi, Alexandre Burkhard
- Hand bevelling: Jérôme Besançon
- Shaped sapphire crystal: Alexis Bernard
- Project initiation: Ilaria Resta
- Direction: Claudio Cavaliere, Sébastian Vivas
- Coordination: Nikolaas Dockx, Claude Meylan, Kevin Quaresma.
Explore Atelier des Établisseurs via Audemars Piguet.
Words by Henry Blake
