VIEW OF THE WORLD
The brainchild of New York artist KAWS and emblematic character that combines Mickey Mouse and Jolly Roger sneaked in through the workshops of the Le Brassus manufacture to appear on the dial of a very exclusive edition.
Under the pseudonym KAWS hides Brian Donnelly, a specialist in reinterpreting pop culture icons such as The Simpsons and Mickey Mouse, among others. In fact, it’s Disney’s famous rodent that the New York artist has remodeled, fusing with certain graphic elements of Jolly Roger, the skull over two crossed tibias that fly the pirate flag, to give birth to a character with X-shaped eyes. This figurine has been brought to the Audemars Piguet workshops in the form of a special edition available in 250 pieces: the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon “Companion” watch.
Companion is the face of the watch, set against a titanium plate and protected by a sapphire crystal disk. In the center of its t-shirt, like a beating heart, an opening reveals a tourbillon. Two luminescent triangles, driven by a superposition of toothed wheels, circulate around his gloved hands and bone-shaped ears to display the hours (solid hand) and minutes (hollowed-out hand).
These discreet but clearly visible indications, together with the complex regulator, are set to the rhythm of the Calibre 2979, a hand-wound 3hz movement with a 72-hour power reserve. The embossed figure is housed in a 45mm-diameter, 17.4mm-thick titanium case, which is encircled by a large crown featuring a series of X-stamped screws. The various finishes – sandblasted, satin-finished and polished – exacerbate the architectural dimension of the whole, which is worn on the wrist with an interchangeable strap in grey or slate calf leather, depending on the option chosen.
