Q&A With Olivier Audemars, Great-Grandson Of One Of Audemars Piguet's Founders

Olivier Audemars, 60, the great-grandson of Edward Auguste Piguet who cofounded Audemars Piguet - the only existing Swiss watch manufacturer that has never left the hands of its founding families - is deeply attached to Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux, birthplace of the family business, just as his forefathers before him With the brand having recently released the disruptive Code 11.59 family of timepieces with new design language and three newly-developed calibers considered to be the most important collection launch since the Royal Oak in 1972, we sit down with Audemars as he shares memories of his grandfather, his intention of keeping the business in the family and how he is transmitting the innovation and artistic savoir-faire passed down from his ancestors by ensuring that the next generation has an emotional bond to the family company The decision to join the family company was a big one.

For a family business, it's not easy because a family company is about the people: you take care of them, they take care of you You select one, then you have another branch, and you have to decide to stay with your own company or join the family business Our company went through some really bad times and our ancestors made huge sacrifices for the company to continue, so we are perfectly aware that if the company is what it is today, it's not because we are special people, it's because of the sacrifices that were made by previous generations.

It's to develop an emotional connection between the company and the children, so when the day comes that they will have this responsibility, they will take it convinced that it's important and worth dedicating part of their life to it, while making sure they understand that the company does not belong to them, that it belongs to the Vallée de Joux, to the people working there and their families, that they're just here to forge the next link of a very long chain and to make sure that this link is strong enough to sustain the following links. . Source