Novelties

Pitch Perfect: The Sweet Sounds (and Looks) of Audemars Piguet’s Trio of New Supersonneries

Today, the Le Brassus-based maison brings the elevated audio innovations from 2016’s experimental Royal Oak Concept RD#1 to exquisite new executions for the Royal Oak and Code 11.59 collections.

By Mike Espindle

November 2, 2026

Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Minute Repeater Supersonnerie © Audemars Piguet

While chiming timepieces were originally meant to solve the problem of telling time in a low-light nightscape, the musical function has grown to become the ne plus ultra expression of a challenging, nuanced, got-to-get-it-right haute horlogerie watch complication.

Creating a minute repeater sonnerie demands every bit of a watchmaker’s finesse and knowledge – not to mention a profound respect for the heritage behind this complication’s development and intent – yet modern executions prove time and again that there is always room to make them even better.

Before we get into it, let’s be clear: A minute repeater sonnerie uses internal hammers and gongs to sound out the time in a series of tones to the hour, quarter hour, and minute on demand via a slider and also automatically chime hours and quarter-hours as time passes.

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s take a look at Audemars Piguet’s latest trio of chiming beauties.

Suped-Up

Audemars Piguet first introduced its in-house “Supersonnerie” technology on the Royal Oak Concept RD#1 in 2016, after eight years of interdisciplinary R&D among watchmakers, musicians, and technologists.

The result was a system that dramatically transformed a wristwatch’s acoustic properties, primarily owing to the innovation of marrying the gongs to an amplifying soundboard and incorporating fine openings in the solid caseback to create a resonance chamber (think of an acoustic guitar body, upside down). This Supersonnerie system also employed new sound-enhancing construction techniques and introduced a new regulator approach to the “wrist orchestra.”

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie © Audemars Piguet

While the watchmaker has released new models with the Supersonnerie moniker since then, there is something about this trio of new models that speaks to the purity of Audemars Piguet’s balance between sonic technical advancement and chimer classicism, with all three based on the manual-wind, 72-hour power reserve Calibre 2953 movement.

Royal Oak, for the Record

First, two 42mm pieces expand the Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie line, in two distinctive flavors: One crafted entirely from titanium and sporting a satin-brushed, smoked green sunburst dial (going to black at the dial edge), and one in 18-karat pink gold (a first for the Royal Oak’s Supersonneries) paired with a gorgeous brown grand tapisserie-textured dial. Both run a color-matched small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock.

Interestingly, except for the telltale sculpted manual minute repeater trigger on the left side of their cases, you wouldn’t know at a glance that these ROs make any noise at all. Instead, both showcase the Royal Oak’s undeniable blend of sportiness and luxury, from the eight screws on the hexagonal bezel to its long-linked integrated metal bracelet.

You’d be hard-pressed to choose which is the more handsome: the smoked green dial was just as perfect a color approach for the titanium model as the elegant brown tapisserie dial was for the pink gold execution. There will be no doubt, however, on which one will be the more expensive.

The Code Sings

Lastly, with its more outré hollow-lug design DNA, the new 41mm Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Minute Repeater Supersonnerie also expands that model’s Supersonnerie line, which was first introduced in 2023. However, this Code 11.59 uses the design’s subtly disruptive elements to introduce edgier cues while reinforcing a classic essence.

The 41mm 18-karat white gold case (with an exquisitely polished white gold mid-case) frames an artful smoked sapphire dial that gives a muted top-side view of the Calibre 2953 movement. Again, a sleek left-side slider sparks the music on demand.

Finally, while this new Code’s lugs may be open-worked as expected, it’s the elegant, large-scale, grey alligator strap sitting beautifully between them that delivers this piece’s more classic look to your sonic activities, along with more traditional, deeper, galvanized metallic contrast work on the indices and small seconds sub-dial.

A Final Note

Released today, pricing details for the new trio plays this way: CHF 325,000 for the 41mm Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Minute Repeater Supersonnerie (Ref. 26395BC.OO.D002KB.01), CHF 351,100 for the titanium 42mm Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie (Ref. 26591TI.OO.1252TI.08), and CHF 391,400 for the pink gold 42mm Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie (Ref. 26591OR.OO.1252OR.01).

You can learn more with a fermata (look it up) on the Audemars Piguet website.