The Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage: A Pocket Watch Written in the Stars

Marking 150 years of family-owned horological mastery, today, Audemars Piguet presents the 150 Heritage, a hand-wound pocket watch that bridges history, astronomy, and mechanical innovation.

Limited to two one-of-a-kind platinum editions, the 150 Heritage combines technical audacity with traditional métiers d’art, setting a new benchmark for ultra-complicated pocket watches.

So, let’s take a look at the new 150 Heritage and its remarkable craftsmanship.

Audemars Piguet’s legacy of ultra-complicated pocket watches stretches back to L’Universelle (1899) and La Grosse Pièce (1921). The 150 Heritage continues this lineage as the third major creation, housing the newly developed Calibre 1150.
 

Derived from the Calibre 1000 and redesigned for a pocket watch format with 1,140 components, the hand-wound Calibre 1150 movement delivers 47 functions across 30 complications, including a Grande Sonnerie with Supersonnerie technology, a minute repeater, a flying tourbillon, a split-seconds flyback chronograph, and a semi-Gregorian perpetual calendar.
 

Yet, despite this movement’s extraordinary complexity, every function is legible and reconfigured for intuitive operation. That is because the Manufacture focused on reimagining how a pocket watch should be handled.

Crowns, pushers, and correctors were repositioned using 3D modelling and tested to prevent accidental activation and to enhance comfort. Moreover, the chronograph, chiming modes, and calendar corrections are controlled via a series of cleverly placed pushers, while concealed correctors adjust the weekday and astronomical moon.
 

The secret caseback opens through a dedicated push-piece, revealing both the movement and the watch’s most groundbreaking feature: the universal calendar.

Unlike traditional calendars, this mechanism displays solar, lunar, and lunisolar cycles across 18 indications, including dates, moon phases, solstices, equinoxes, and nine cultural celebrations, such as Ramadan, Diwali, Easter, and Chinese New Year.
 

Operated via a bidirectional wheel, this universal calendar can even scroll through two centuries of data, aligned with the Metonic cycle (a 19-year period, discovered by Athenian astronomer Meton around 432 BCE, where the phases of the Moon recur on the same days of the solar year), and functions independently of the movement.
 

As Giulio Papi, Director of Watch Conception, notes: “This timepiece pays tribute to humanity’s journey with timekeeping – honouring the astronomers, mathematicians, and watchmakers who made time visible.”

The 23.4mm-thick platinum case is fully hand-engraved, featuring commemorative motifs of the brand’s founders and 150-year emblem. The main dial, in 18-carat white gold, is finished with translucent blue grand feu enamel, while hand-engraved Roman numerals float above star trails echoing celestial rhythms.
 

On the back, the universal calendar’s dial continues this theme, while pink-gold hands add contrast for optimal legibility. Finally, a hand-made platinum chain completes the watch, uniting practicality with historic authenticity.
 

The combination of engraving, enameling, and chain-making showcases Audemars Piguet’s commitment to traditional skills and Haute Horlogerie artistry.