This video depicts the production of the Audemars Piguet’s beautiful “Grand Tapisserie” dial. It shows the machines that perform the guillochage of the Royal Oak’s dial, resulting in the signature weaving pattern that forms the square and lozenge motif that the brand has been famous for since 1972.

“The brass dial is engraved by a burin (a precision metalwork chisel) that reproduces the motif on a disc attached to the machine, like a pantograph. A pointer rotates across the disc from the periphery to the center. The system is combined with a tool that forms the little lozenges between the squares,” explains engineer Nicholas Prost, who heads the decorative engraving project.

The process takes between 20 and 50 minutes, depending on the dial’s diameter. It’s a delicate operation. A mere skip is all it takes to damage the piece as the slightest impact is as visible as dust on a mirror. As the ‘piquetage’ gets closer to the circle’s center, the rhythm gets faster and hails the birth of a brand new dial, ready to be sent out for the finishing processes.

Since the birth of Royal Oak in 1972, the guillochage work had been exclusively subcontracted to a dial-work artisan. In order to produce this element in the workshop, the horology brand recovered 40-year-old machines in Canada and the United States. The machines were then completely overhauled and improved over the period of a year before they took their place in the manufacturing process 3 years ago.”

The new range of Royal Oak models which are currently being produced is now in stores.