“The Valley,” is how the inhabitants of the high plateau of the Jura mountains refer to the “Vallée de Joux,” their slice of nature perched at 1,000 meters in altitude. Just fifty kilometers away from the Geneva airport, this magnificent region of low mountains was the cradle of the development of Swiss watchmaking in the 19th century. Like Audemars Piguet’s two founders, Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, the valley’s artisans spent the harsh winters making timepieces that they would then sell in the big cities to supplement the income from their farms.

Although the watchmaking companies in the Valley’s villages have wisely accepted modernization and innovation over the decades, the natural beauty of the setting has been protected from urban and industrial development. A lovely lake, vast stretches of unspoiled forest and pastures greet the eye; and the clean air, the friendliness and the warm accents of the local inhabitants give the region a unique charm.

“Tourist attractions focus all year long on sports, families, quiet and relaxation. This exceptional setting allows visitors to escape from the traffic and noise of the city,” explains Cédric Paillard, director of the Vallée de Joux tourist office. Local products like the Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese, gentian liqueur and lake fish reflect the lifestyle adopted by the inhabitants of the various small hamlets that dot the Valley.

Audemars Piguet has been in the village of Le Brassus since 1875. To welcome haute horology enthusiasts from around the world, the Manufacture opened a museum that tells its history, as well as the Hotel des Horlogers. This four-star establishment offers a spa and a restaurant run by the famous chef Philippe Guignard, whose passion for the Vallée de Joux is palpable in dishes that feature fish from its lake, fresh aromatic herbs from its mountains and mushrooms from its forests.

Celebrating a partnership established in 2008, Audemars Piguet released a limited series inspired by racing car last October: the Royal Oak Offshore Jarno Trulli. This timekeeper in forged carbon, a material that the Brassus brand was the first to use, also includes titanium and a bezel in cermet, elements that evoke racing car. But outside the world of racing, it was the man and his deep attachment to his roots that won over AP.

The Monza racetrack, in Italy, is particularly meaningful to Jarno. There he enjoys the unswerving support of the tifosi, who welcome him like a prince. His first name, Jarno, comes from Monza; his parents named him in honor of the Finnish driver, Jarno Saarinen, who died on the circuit in 1973 in a terrible crash.

But it’s not just car racing that anchors him to his native country. A wine connoisseur, the athlete owns vineyards that have been producing wine for ten years. When he travels, which also helps him broaden his market, his father is in charge of the Podere Castorani brand. This young wine, based on old farming traditions, is a Motepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Very moved by the earthquake that shook Abruzzo in April 2009, Trulli founded an association, “Abruzzo ne cuore,” or “Abruzzo in the heart.” His initiative has already raised nearly 680,000 euros to help the victims. His dedicated and generous personality captivated the Le Brassus-based brand.

http://abruzzonelcuore.org/

http://www.poderecastorani.it/

It’s not every day that one can meet an artist with a background as varied and impressive as Qunicy Jones’. The musician’s journey has taken him from inner city Chicago to Seattle, Boston, and New York, and on to various European cities, where he played and composed for the principal jazz heavyweigts of the time, including Ray Charles and Dizzy Gillespie.

Imbued with a passion for music, he worked in the 1960s alongside artists with styles as varied as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett. Subsequently he found himself increasingly interested – as a musician, composer and producer – in blues, funk and pop, a direction that naturally led him to the doorstep of the young Michael Jackson. They began a three-album collaboration (Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982 and Bad in 1987), which became a world-wide sensation.

Today, the 78-year-old musician has a special relationship with Switzerland. He is a trusted friend of Claude Nobs, the founder of the famous Montreux Jazz Festival, and has been closely associated with Audemars Piguet for many years. In 2010, the Manufacture paid homage to this extraordinary personality by dedicating a limited edition collection in his name: the Millenary Quincy Jones, a model inspired by the black keys of the piano keyboard, the artist’s favorite instrument.

For although Jones is an excellent trumpet player, it was the piano he discovered first, as a child, and taught himself to play. “I never thought I’d have a watch bearing my name,” he explained during a visit to the Manufacture last year.

Jones’ simple manner and philanthropic side have always impressed the brand, which wanted to bear witness to his friendship by donating a portion of sales of the Millenary Quincy Jones to the Quincy Jones Association. “I try to live according to the words I often hear from Nobel laureates, which are: Love, live, and give,” added Jones, thanking Audemars Piguet along the way for its support of his foundation.

Photo credit: JimYoung/Reuters

A watch that sits well on the wrist, excellent readability, an accessible crown for setting the hour: These are all qualities that the external parts designer brings to his creations. From the technical office, part of the “watch development” section of the Manufacture du Brassus, Jean Cretin explains to Audacity what he and his four colleagues do. “We are in charge of the watches’ “body” – the case, the glass, the bracelet, the clasps.”

A close collaboration must be established with the design department. The future prototype will be built from a two-dimensional image. The work is done mainly on the computer, using software that lets the technicians model the future watches in three dimensions. “A prototype is then created in epoxy resin by an outside company. This model gives us an idea of the actual volumes and proportions that were imagined at the start,” Cretin explains.

The epoxy-resin model is used to correct all the errors that weren’t apparent in the design phase. An unintentional space between the wrist and the watch means the ergonomy must be redesigned. The same goes for the dial. “We can be convinced to change the glass-opening, the dimensions of the display, the indexes. The calendar window can, for example, be too close to the exterior, which is not esthetically pleasing. We must then change the size of the dial,” the head of the external parts design office explains.

Once the design department is satisfied with the model, a small number of watches are produced in order to improve any final details that might have escaped the designers. A dial set with precious stones could end up with an irregular surface, if only by a tiny fraction, because of the size of the gems, and could prevent the hands from turning properly due to lack of space. All these situations, and the numerous models involved, demand a good measure of flexibility on the part of the “constructeur habillage.”

Faced with the necessity of building a new production facility in Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet’s administration and board of directors accepted a challenge: to construct an environmentally-friendly building, following the same philosophy as the Audemars Piguet Foundation, created in 1992 and dedicated to the protection of forests and environmental education. “We wanted the new building to reflect the identity of the foundation, by respecting its site, the Vallée de Joux, and by providing the best working conditions possible to the company’s valuable employees,” recalls Daniel Saugy, general secretary of the foundation, who was responsible for monitoring the environmental aspects of the project.

To ensure that their future building would conform to these objectives, the company decided to adopt the Swiss “MINERGIE-ECO®” energy standards, which certify that a building is healthy and environmentally friendly. “When we started, the label was still in the test phase. The architectural firm we hired thus had to be quite creative to find solutions,” adds Saugy.

Meeting these standards meant satisfying a large number of criteria throughout the project. “Even before starting construction of the new building, we had to recycle the materials from the sawmill that had been on the site and do a complete remediation,” explains Saugy. The choice of materials for the new facility was also strict: they had to be sustainable, recyclable and non-toxic. Fibro-cement for the facades, water-based paint, eloxed aluminum window frames, and concrete made with sand from a gravel pit nearby — to avoid pollution caused by transporting it from farther away — were all used. Inaugurated in August 2009, the plant is the only industrial production facility in Switzerland that bears the “MINERGIE-ECO®” label.

More information on the “MINERGIE-ECO®” label: www.minergie.ch