Audemars Piguet 2326 Instructions For Use Manual - page 8
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With its exact compo-
sit ion, manuf ac tur ing
methods and tools were
major obstacles that had to
be overcome at high speed
as, like the Alinghi team,
Audemars Piguet had very
little time available.
Countdown commenced
in Spring 2004. A small Audemars
Piguet team set to work in the
greatest secrecy reminiscent of a
start-up business. The aim was to
combine mechanical reality and
aesthetic constraints to produce the
chronograph’s octagonal case. The
complex shapes of the bezel and case
had to be resistant in all axes and
present sharp angles and a perfect
surface from word go. It would in
fact be impossible to polish an item
in forged carbon.
Rubber and ceramic
Borrowed from the automotive and aeronautics
industries, these materials have pride of place in the
Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team Chronograph.
Synthetic rubber is a source of unrivalled operating
precision with a perfect surface finish. Added to these
qualities are resistance to sea water, chlorine, detergents
and perfumes, making it the ideal strap material for this
chronograph designed specially for sailors. It has also
been vulcanised to increase its strength whilst retaining
invariable elasticity.
Research work in another field led to the development
of innovative ceramics. Audemars Piguet has chosen
a ceramic with very specific physical properties for
the crown and pushers. The ceramic has undergone
particularly delicate treatments calling on all the know-
how of the Manufacture’s engineers and watchmakers.
The essential qualities of
this technical ceramic are its
tremendous resistance to friction
and wear and its exceptionally
smooth final finish.
1 Intr
oduction
Eng
lish