founded in 1875 in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland, by friends Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, remains one of the few independent, family-owned Swiss watchmakers. Early on, the company specialised in complicated watches and precision mechanisms, producing some of the first minute repeaters, perpetual calendar movements and in 1934, the first skeleton watch. The brand is best known for the Royal Oak, introduced in 1972, designed by Gérald Genta, one of the first high-end luxury sports watches in stainless steel, which profoundly influenced the industry.