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 News January 2008The Millenary baguette-cut diamonds collection offers an exceptional pair of “his and hers” timepieces. Both feature the Millenary signature oval case, adorned in radiant clothing. Both house a mechanical selfwinding movement for a perfect balance between jewellery and watchmaking.
 Millenary baguette-cut diamonds collection“his and hers” timepiecesThe Watch Quote™ - January 23rd, 2008
A luminous marvelThe art of gem-setting is undoubtedly one of the jeweller’s noblest tasks. It is up to him to discover how best to highlight the qualities of the stone. For the Millenary baguette-cut diamonds collection, Audemars Piguet jewellers have opted for the hardest route of all: creating the impression that the watch is literally carved in diamond. First of all, the master-jewellers of Le Brassus ensure that only the purest colourless diamonds are selected. The lapidaries then craft the baguette cut, while achieving the kind of proportions that enable an ideal reflection of the light and impeccable brilliance. Once the polishing is done, they check that the stones feature no undesirable stripes or streaks. Contrary to closed setting, which consists of pushing back metal all around the stone, or to claw setting in which tiny claws hold the gemstone to the piece of jewellery, invisible setting entirely releases the stone from the metal. The diamonds are placed side by side, with no metal showing through. Such a marvel of sophistication implies meticulous preparation of the gemstones. Two grooves are hollowed in the lower part of the gem, also known as the lower girdle facet, and serve to press the stone into its recess, snuggled right up against its neighbour without even the tiniest glimmer of gold in sight.
Mother-of-pearl and diamond half-moonThe know-how of the finest artisans and specialists has been lavished upon creating the invisible-set pavé motif on the dial. 149 stones for the ladies’ watch and 166 for the men’s watch adorn a surface no thicker than 1.2 mm. Associating a mother-of-pearl zone and a diamond-set zone of different sizes gives the dial a dynamic appearance and creates an off-centred effect. On the ladies’ dial, the row of diamonds gradually narrows the closer it gets to the dial centre. On the men’s watch, the jewellers use larger stones, while being careful to preserve the exquisite finesse of the dial. The dial design means each stone must correspond to a specific dimension and be cut to size. To ensure the accuracy of this operation, each of them is made according to detailed plans arising from close cooperation between the R&D department and the gem-setting workshop. The stones are cut to within 1/100th of a millimetre using state-of-the-art technologies. It takes a full month’s work to make the stones for a single dial. A curving, transparent casebandThe invisible gem-setting extends over the case of the Millenary baguette-cut diamonds, including the caseband, a truly impressive feat. The Manufacture Audemars Piguet has devoted the full measure of its skills to developing and patenting an exclusive cut capable of following the curving shape of the flanks. Right than being flat, the table of these diamonds is slightly convex. To achieve this called for initially large stones that were then cut and polished to create a delicately rounded surface. The girdle and the upper girdle facet are nonetheless very thin and require the gem-setters to demonstrate great dexterity, since the material of the metal setting must not show through and thereby risk dimming the luminosity of the diamond. The result is an invisible setting that clings firmly to the curve of the caseband. Technical specificationsMillenary baguette-cut diamonds ladies’ watch
Millenary baguette-cut diamonds men’s watch
The diamonds used for setting Audemars Piguet watches are of Top Wesselton IF (Internally Flawless) quality. Each watch is delivered with a certificate guaranteeing the number, quality and carat weight of the precious stones.
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