Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph – 26152AU.OO.D002CR.01

Take a good look at the Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph , and your inner watch geek says 'I bet that's a limited edition'. And your inner watch geek would be right. Everything about this luxury watch announces its 'legacy' status (that's what AP calls models it's made just a few of, and which have already sold out). The forged carbon case, the black ceramic bezel and speedometer-style openworked dial—this bad boy is about as far away from the look and feel of a 'traditional' Millenary as it's possible to get.
I say 'traditional' when the irony is that Audemars Piguet sells its Millenary line as 'contemporary design [embracing] exceptional mechanical skill' (that's from the AP website). I think what the brand means is that the elliptical case and off-centre dials, often suspended above the openworked movements Audemars Piguet is famous for, add a solid dash of modernism to the otherwise 'historically-established' materials of the construction. Generally, Millenary watches feature beautifully polished rose gold or white gold cases, and alligator-pattern leather straps. Generally, they are embellished with diamonds, or left to exhibit a truly classic 'just the gold and the leather' feel. And generally, they feature solid dials, often enamelled and with Roman numerals.
But this is no general Millenary. Audemars Piguet only made 120 of these limited edition luxury watches, and every one commands a resale price as solid as the bridges behind which that tourbillon beats. It's as though AP threw out the rule book for the Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph, creating a watch that appeals to fans of Richard Mille as much as it does to fans of Audemars Piguet.
The dial alone leaves this watch open to new interpretations of the Millenary line. It's the only one that doesn't have numerals, opting instead for applied hour markers, which jut over the skeletonised Calibre 2884. The hands are blackened gold, again applied with lume. That's as big of a contrast as you can get when you consider that the other Millenary models all look so classical. Indeed, the only one that comes close is the historic MC12—but even that was built with much more 'traditional' speedo stylings. Despite being based on a modern supercar, the MC12 looked like a tachometer from a 1950s sports car. The Carbon One Tourbillon looks like it's been levered off the dash of a Pagani Zonda.
When a brand makes such a radical departure from its normal design codes, I like to try to understand why. Look at the Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph 26152AU.OO.D002CR.01, and the things you notice are the elements that make it different from all the other Millenary watches. Top of the list is the forged carbon case—for which, of course, the watch is named.
To understand the Millenary Carbon One, you need to understand that it was built back in 2009, when every other luxury sports watch wasn't automatically made from some kind of revolutionary material. And make no mistake: the Carbon One Tourbillon is definitively a sports watch, even though it's only waterproof down to 20 m. The case, the dial, and of course the chrono function, put it squarely in the realm of the athletic. Just don't try to take it swimming.
The forged carbon was developed by AP. It was made by packing carbon threads into a case mould. Each thread is composed of thousands of micronically small carbon fibres, which are bound by a wire made of resin. AP compressed the mould at massive temperatures and high pressures, creating a material that's light, strong, and extremely hard (626 Vickers).
To the left of the dial, the sweeping power reserve display shows how much juice the Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon has left in the tank. A very cool fact: the watch has a massive 12-day reserve, but the movement incorporates a lock that won't let the spring unwind for more than 10 days. The idea, like all great performance vehicles, is to distribute power at maximum efficiency.
In fact, everything about this luxury watch has been designed to within a micron of perfection. The tourbillon has 80 parts and takes three days to assemble. The baseplate is forged from a particularly heat-resistant form of carbon, which won't deform in most normal-high temperature ranges—meaning the Carbon One performs with great accuracy no matter where it finds itself.
Sapphire glass on front and back ensures a glare-proof view of the elliptical movement, including the twin (beautifully-finished) barrels that deliver that 10-day power. And a black leather (crocodile) strap, secured with a blackened AP folding clasp, completes the look.
This is a luxury watch that makes no concessions to the preconceptions people might have about Audemars Piguet. It's the odd one out in the Millenary line, and all the better for it. If you can find one, hold on to it.
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