Audemars Piguet, is one the only and oldest existing swiss watch manufacturer that has never left the hands of its founding families. The brand recently released the disruptive Code 11.59 family of timepieces with new design language.(Forbes, June 2019).
There’s no doubt that independent Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet is one of the finest mechanical watchmakers in the world. One of its horological icon is the Gerald Genta- Designed Royal Oak collection, which was also recognizable and distinctive. (Gulf Business, May 2018).
Audemars Piguet- Hotel in Switzerland
Beyond watches, Audemars Piguet has for several years been silently operating a luxury hotel within the chocolate-box village of Le Brassus in the Vallee de Joux. The hotel is located at the birthplace of Audemars Piguet birthplace. (Gulf Business, May 2018).
Countdown to 2020, when luxury watchmaker will show off a striking new hotel in Vallee de Joux, recognized as the birthplace of Swiss horology. The is named as Hotel des Horlogers d’Audemars Piguet, which will be located next to the Audemars Piguet museum, which will tell the story of the brand and its history.(Luxury Travel Advisor, May 2015).
The spiral shaped museum will showcasing 1300 historically relevant timepieces and educate guests of the origin and takes them back to 1875(the year when the watchmaker launched their brand). (Gulf Business, May 2018). The goal of the museum’s design- creating an airy, light-soaked building among tight constraints-proved arduous. “the challenge was temperature, given our fierce, long winters, then dust and humidity control, as all the watchmakers will be working inside the museum.”(New York Post, October 19). In fact, this project will create a veritable “Audemars Campus”.
The resort will feature the architect’s signature playful touch; its roof doubles as a ramp connecting the floors down which guests can ski before continuing onto the piste.(New York Post, October 19). The designer of the building Bjarke Ingels Group(BIG) describes the new hotel as an “evolution of the hotel typology, seamlessly rises from the surrounding landscape and gently unfolds onto the site.” The hotel’s cool architecture incorporates sliding slabs which become terraces overlooking the valley. On the inside of the hotel, there will be a “continuous sloping corridor” that connects the 50 guestroom, which gives the hotel a “surreal look”(Luxury Launches, April 18).
This is probably not the Swiss chalet you imagined, but it promises to be a niche choice for non-traditionalist vacation-skiers.(Luxury Launches, April 18). The hotel will include facilities like two restaurants, a bar, a spa, and a conference center. (Luxury Travel Advisor, May 18), which will be positioned under the sloping slabs in a way that orients the spaces towards the light and makes the guest access from the exterior of the building.(Luxury Launches, April 18).
A recent Barron;s article notes that this is “the latest in a string of upscale resorts opened by fashion brands hoping to leverage their global prestige with a move into the hospitality space.(Luxury Travel Advisor, May 18).
Each level of the hotel appears to be tilted off base with the rooms reducing in size towards the ends. These sloping floors are almost a nod to the surrounding ski slopes.(Luxury Launches, April 18).
- Mark Ellwood, New York Post, October 18,2019. You can ski into this Swiss watchmaker’s hotel.
https://nypost.com/2019/10/18/you-can-ski-into-this-swiss-watchmakers-hotel/
- Mary Winston Nicklin, Luxury Travel Advisor, May 15, 2018. A Hotel By Audemars Piguet To Open In Switzerland. https://www.luxurytraveladvisor.com/hotels/a-hotel-by-audemars-piguet-to-open-switzerland
- Varun Godinho, Gulf Business, 01 May, 2018. The Audemars Piguet Hotel in Switzerland is Getting a Makeover. https://gulfbusiness.com/get-ready-audemars-piguet-hotel/
- Vivien, Luxury Launches, 13 April, 2018. Watchmaker Audemars Piguet is building a radical luxury hotel in Switzerland. https://luxurylaunches.com/hotels_and_resorts/watchmaker-audemars-piguet-is-building-a-radical-luxury-hotel-in-switzerland.php
- Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle, Forbes, June 13, 2019. Q&A With Olivier Audemars, Great-Grandson Of One of Audemars Piguet’s Founder.
