Audemars Piguet committed to sailing since 1985, has been a supporter of the Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing project, since it was set up. Immediately seduced by the ambition and daring of a team which, until 2009, was entirely feminine, the Manufacture from Le Brassus has launched the second limited edition dedicated to the project.

Constantly seeking perfection, cultivating an eye for detail, applying the latest technological innovation to an art anchored in long tradition, Audemars Piguet and Ladycat pursue the same goal.

2012 was the year of renewal for the catamaran which traded its fuchsia pink for even more original colours - black, bronze (which became gold in 2013) and green - and a strong graphic style reflecting a new mixed crew. The boat now welcomes on board Dona Bertarelli as skipper/helmsman, as well as multihull specialists such as Yann Guichard, but also Billy Besson, Arnaud Jarlegan, Emanuelle Roll, Devan Le Bihan, Marie Riou and Nicolas Débordès.

"These changes express the will to go even further and the maturity acquired over the past few years," explains Dona Bertarelli. As for the name, "there was no need to change it. Ladycat is my project and reflects what I am and the values I want to pass on. For five years, more than 20 female navigators were able to express their passion and some of them have even been able to make a living from it. This is still the case, even though the project has moved towards a mixed crew, less through our determination than by obligation."

2013 also saw two new timepieces join the prestigious Royal Oak Offshore chronograph collection, in the boat's colours. Like the boat, Audemars Piguet has always offered women exceptional instruments, designed to give them a highly accurate and enhanced image. Every watch, through its complexity and features, has always reflected Audemars Piguet's willingness to magnify women. The Audemars Piguet archives are full of real treasures that reveal the modernity the house has shown in making the production of movements its speciality, including very small movements and the use of watchmaking complications which were very rapidly integrated into women's watches. A real expert in its art for the past 138 years, Audemars Piguet, still owned by the founding families and established in Le Brassus - the cradle of Fine Watchmaking in Switzerland - has been able to transcend its watch designs over the years.

In the world we live in, we could ask ourselves where do the aspirations, desires or ambitions of women come from. Last century, they were able to win fundamental rights, like that of having the time, now self-evident today, but for a long time the preserve of men and ladies of the court and of power. Nowadays, they approach time without constraint, as an art of living. Women have made timepieces their allies, allowing them to assert their independence, to state without words but with clarity the essential facets of their personality.

ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE LADYCAT CHRONOGRAPH

THE NEW ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE LADYCAT CHRONOGRAPHS ARE QUITE OBVIOUSLY INTENDED FOR SPORTY WOMEN, AS WELL AS FOR ALL THOSE WHO LIKE POWERFUL AND GRAPHICALLY DESIGNED WATCHES CAPABLE OF ACCENTUATING THEIR DYNAMIC NATURE.

The two models, bearing the colours of the racing catamaran sponsored by the Manufacture from Le Brassus, come in steel and white gold versions respectively issued in 150-piece and 10-piece limited editions. Their dials harmoniously associate the new boat colours: black, gold, and green – with the latter featured on the subdial hand. The back displays the Ladycat logo, celebrating the only boat in this sailing category competing with a woman at the helm.

The white gold version of the Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat, with its black mother-of-pearl dial counters, is adorned with a gemset bezel, case and folding clasp totalling 323 diamonds (approx. 5.82 carats). The black rubber strap provides a perfect foil for the sparkle of the gems, which are as ever chosen by Audemars Piguet from among the highest-quality stones. The steel variation is equally appealing with its pure lines accentuated by the brilliant-pavé bezel and the likewise gemset studs that merge smoothly into the strap.

The sturdy 37 mm case houses a mechanical selfwinding movement capable of measuring short times over a 12-hour period, on demand and as often as required. Efficient, accurate and finished in keeping with the finest traditions, this mechanical heart has as 40-hour power reserve and is automatically rewound by its owner’s wrist movements. Representing a further token of the Manufacture’s determination to cultivate luxury right through to the smallest details, this intensely feminine chronograph is equipped with an 18-carat gold oscillating weight.

Water-resistant to 5 bar, the superlative Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat Chronographs clearly establish themselves as the ideal watch for women looking to assert their taste for challenges.