Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, a little town in the French speaking part of Switzerland, to the north of Geneva. The founders were Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, who where themselves watchmakers. The company developed and manufactured low numbers of watches until the introduction of the Royal Oak designed by Gerald Genta.
At the moment (2023) Audemars Piguet produces an estimate of 50.000 watches per year (compared to the estimated 1 million of Rolex, that’s a pretty low number) With about 100 points of sale, most of which are the own brand Boutiques (to better control who they sell watches to). It can be calculated that an approximate number of 500 watches are distributed, per year, at each location. Making Audemars Piguet watches, specially the Royal Oak in all its variants, including Jumbo, difficult to obtain.
AP Chronicles – History of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (Dial, bracelet, case…) curated by the own brand. Really in-depth and well documented. Although with a marketing twist I have enjoyed reading the articles.
As of 2023 Audemars Piguet has stopped including instruction manuals and guarantee booklets in their boxes, now watches only come with the guarantee card. 15550ST comes with 8 removable links on its bracelet.