Launched in 2019, Audemars Piguet’s divisive Code 11:59 series has featured some of the brand’s most unconventional and intricate timepieces ever. Although the Swiss watchmaker’s newest addition may be its wildest, yet most interesting thus far.
Reimagining its namesake watch that debuted in 1991, AP’s new modernized Starwheel is a wandering hours complication, which allows the wearer to tell the time in an unusual, if not surprisingly legible fashion. With only a seconds hand present, the dial consists of three domed discs that each possess 4 non-sequential hour numbers (e.g., one of the discs has 1, 4, 7, and 10). As the time ticks by, the appropriate hour number points to the minute on the arched track at the top.
Like the other watches from Code 11:59 collection, the triple-layer case is 41mm. This time around, however, the top and bottom layers (i.e., the bezel and caseback) are made of 18k white gold, while the middle octagonal case is constructed of black ceramic.
The wandering hours complication is not unique to AP, first attributed to Roman clockmakers in 1655 who invented it in order to cure the insomnia of Pope Alexander VII. The Code 11:59 Starwheel is available from Audemars Piguet for $57,900.
