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(Photo Credit: Audemars Piguet "AP Museum") (Photo Credit: Audemars Piguet "Inside Museum")The beautiful Audemars Piguet museum in Le Brassus was recently burglarized. Formerly the home of the original founding families of Audemars Piguet, the large building is now primarily used to house the Audemars Piguet museum pieces. The collection is very far ranging and covers many different eras. It is a private museum and access is by invite only. I had a chance to visit the famous museum in April of 2009, as part of my tour of the manufacture. This is an unfortunate event, and I hope they find the people behind this. I'm not sure how they got through the security, as each room has a door the is about a foot thick and built like a safe, plus all the windows are heavily reinforced. The museum houses some exquisite pieces, pieces that are priceless. It sounds like the burglars cleared out an entire room (hall) of the museum, which means many of the priceless treasures are thankfully still safe (as there are numerous halls within the museum). Audemars Piguet museum and manufacture is located in Le Brassus is a small town in the Jura mountains, with very few people around, especially at 4 am, plus the burglars were very quick (supposedly in and out in about 4 minutes). (There has not been an official press release in English, as this literally happened earlier this week, but I was able to find a translation from a French press release below)Museum Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus (VD) has been burglarized in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Thieves have acted very quickly: they stayed for four minutes in the building. They drove away in the direction of France with several hits collection. The burglary occurred at about 04:00 in the morning. The burglars used a ladder to reach the first floor. "They broke two windows shielded. The alarm was immediately put on the road," said Wednesday at the ATS Juliane Gauthier, spokesperson for the watchmaker, confirming a report by "20 minutes". The police arrived on the scene six minutes after the crime. But the criminals had fled on board a vehicle in the direction of neighboring France. "They stayed only four minutes in the museum," said the spokesman. Two men were filmed by surveillance cameras in the museum. Almost all took The burglars have robbed a museum hall, which has six in total. In this piece, they have "taken almost everything," said Ms. Gauthier, without giving the amount of the stolen loot. "They were hits collection, some pieces are unique. Despite a major research mechanism, the thieves could not be rescheduled. "They have certainly crossed the border," said Jean-Christophe Grasshopper, spokesman for the Vaud police. Border guards and the French police were alerted. "The authors had prepared their coup. They knew exactly where they should go," added the spokesman.Private Museum The building is a private museum open only by invitation. It contains ancient coins and gives an overview of the production of the watchmaker, the ultra-thin watches for Major complications. It is housed in the house where the family once lived Audemars. In 2007, a wave of burglaries had hit the watchmakers of the Jura. In September and October, professionals organized crime had attacked Jaeger-LeCoultre, Le Sentier, with a car ram. The museum Perregaud Girard-La Chaux-de-Fonds had also been targeted. Source: Audemars Piguet

Jules Audemars (1815-1918) & Edouard Piguet (1853-1919) met in Le Brassus in the Swiss Jura Mountains in 1875. Said by many to the Rolls Royce of get a load ofes owned by many a Rolls Royce owner. The meeting of its two founders is reminiscent of the founding fathers of the famous car corporation meeting in a Manchester Hotel. Audemars was a maker of dial frames & Piguet was a finisher. Their trade mark was first ledgered in December 1882. The 2 founders died within a year of each other. The company has always maintained a detailed register of every watch made & sold. The most famous collection is the La Grande Complication of which only 100 were made between 1915 and 1989, the Grande Sonnerie, the Perp��tuelle Calendar Watch and the Skeleton watch. The grand Oak was the first luxury wristwatch ever created in stainless steel. The watch is named after the indented tree trunk in which King Charles II is said to have sought refuge. The Manufacture The story of Audemars begins in Le Brassus, Vall��e de Joux, Switzerland, in 1875.Two master watchmakers, Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet, joined forces to create complicated watches. They found instantaneous acent hit and their enterprise was officially founded in December 1881. Audemars Piguet is one of the rare Swiss watch-making manufactures to remain in the hands of its founding families. It still adheres to the principles of its founders: innovation in harmony with tradition. This has enabled the “Manufacture” to achieve fascinating watch-making feats and astonishing world firsts.Audemars Piguet Replica Watches