Le Brassus and Geneva. The firm was founded in 1875 by two watchmakers, Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, aged 24 and 22, under the name ?Audemars Piguet, Manufacture d?Horlogerie?. Jules Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he was trained by master watchmakers of the area. After his apprenticeship, Audemars began work as a ?repasseur?. In 1874, he moved to Gimel and opened a small business next to his workshop. It did not, however, acheive the success he had hoped for, probably due to the recession which was then beginning. Eighteen months later he decided to return to Le Brassus, hoping to find a situation more in keeping with his exceptional watchmaking skill. Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years after Jules Audemars, received a similar education. Edward completed his formation as a ?repasseur? in the workshops of Charles Capt. The two met in 1875 in Le Brassus. For a time, the two watchmakers worked closely together without legally officializing their partnership. In 1880, they opened a branch in Geneva, where commercial possibilities were the greatest. The Audemars, Piguet & Cie name was finally registered at the Bern "Office technique de l?Edition et de la Publicité" on December, 6, 1882, as producing movements and watch cases. Audemars Piguet & Cie is presented as a manufacture active all year long, with 10 male employees. Due to his exceptional technical abilities, Jules Audemars was the technical manager of the manufacture. He patented several inventions in Switzerland and in the USA, and traveled extensively, particularly to America, where the potential for trade fascinated him. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918, when Jules Audemars died at the age of 67. Piguet died the following year. The name Audemars Piguet was to become synonymous with watches of exceptional quality, superb complications and incredibly thin movements. The list of their accomplishments is impressive, to say the least. They manufactured many of the world?s most complicated watches, the majority of which were sold to other manufacturers, who in turn sold them as their own watches. Famous examples are the Universal-Uhr of Uhrenfabrik Union, and the so-called ?grosse piece? which was sold as the ?Astronomical Watch? by Smith & Son Ltd, of London both of which were the most complicated watches in world when they were sold, 1899 and 1914 respectively. From here they went on to produce the world?s smallest five-minute repeating watch (7???), in 1915, the first wristwatches with perpetual calendar and moon phases in 1924, a pocket watch with a movement 1.32 mm thick in 1925, the thinnest lady?s watch in 1960, the thinnest automatic watch, 2.24 mm in 1967, followed three years later by an automatic jump-hour watch with a thickness of 3.05 mm. 1978, 1989 and 1990 saw the size of automatic watches with perpetual calendar reduced from to 3.95 mm to 3,75 mm. The finest example of Audemars Piguet?s quest for thinness came in 1986 with the launching of an automatic watch with Tourbillion regulator. Its overall thickness of 4.8 mm was achieved by setting jewels into the case back and utilizing it as a plate. In 1972 the launch of the ?Royal Oak? marked a turning point in the way watchmakers looked at ?luxury?. Designed by Gerald Genta, the ?Royal Oak? has become one of the most instantly recognizable watches in history, and the Flagship model in the Audemars Piguet portfolio. In its time it has been produced in steel, gold, platinum, tantale, and combinations thereof. It has been set with gems of every description and has housed some of the firm?s most complicated movements. During the ?Quartz Revolution? of the 1970s this watch, more than any other, was responsible for Audemars Piguet?s success. The launch of the Offshore saw a watch that was of a size thought to be unwearable: the gold version with bracelet weighs over 500 grams. However, the resilient Royal Oak once again proved the critics wrong. The 2003 Basel Fair introduced the Royal Oak T3, which dwarfs the Offshore. The last ten years have seen the launch of a wristwatch with carillon and Grande and Petite Sonnerie, as well as the ?Cabinet Watches? which are among the most complicated wristwatches in the world. There is also the ?John Scheffer? minute repeater which is destined to become another of Audemars Piguet?s style icons. Property of the descendants of the original owner, Prince Burman, son of Maharaja Radha Kisore Manikya Badhur.