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[ via Audemars Piguet ]Pursuing its long-established involvement in the field of motor racing, notably including its support for Jarno Trulli and sponsorship of the Tour Auto, the Manufacture Audemars Piguet is delighted to announce its partnership with the promising young S��bastien Buemi who has just turned 20 and is joining the exclusive ranks of Formula 1 racing drivers. Switzerland has been eagerly awaiting another Formula 1 driver for the past 14 years. Associated with the image of the Manufacture Audemars Piguet, S��bastien Buemi from Canton Vaud will begin the 2009 season in Melbourne on March 29th, at the wheel of a Toro Rosso racing car powered by a Ferrari engine. In signing the agreement with S��bastien Buemi in Lausanne on February 27th 2009, Audemars Piguet's CEO Philippe Merk stated: "For Audemars Piguet, partnering this young man with a resolutely fighting spirit was an entirely natural choice. He embodies our brand values through the Tradition of a family firmly anchored in the world of motor sports; the Excellence of his career to date; and the Daring he has displayed in reaching the highest level of his discipline". After becoming Swiss champion in the mini-category at the age of 9 and then European go-kart champion in 2002, he began racing single-seater cars the following year. Right from the first race in the Formula BMW series, he was noticed by Red Bull who signed a five-year contract with him, leading to a string of impressive results including becoming Formula BMW vice-champion in 2005, Formula 3 vice-champion in 2007 and GP2 Asian series vice-champion in 2008. His track record is studded with remarkable accomplishments such as the GP2 race at Magny-Cours, the opening event of the French Grand Prix in 2008: having set off from the 21st spot on the starting grid, he pulled off a brilliant victory, the first of his two wins in the 2008 European series. In the previous year, his talent had already propelled him to a spot as the third driver on the F1 Red Bull racing team, at the age of just 18. On December 22nd 2008, S��bastien Buemi signed his first contract as a full-fledged Formula 1 racing driver, with the Scuderia Toro Rosso. The young man from Canton Vaud still has a long road ahead of him in his attempt to match and even surpass the feats of his illustrious fellow countrymen such as Toulo de Graffenried, Clay Regazzoni and Marc Surer. Audemars Piguet, a fervent sports enthusiast, is particularly proud to welcome this talented young Formula 1 driver into its circle of ambassadors. He will be wearing the iconic Royal Oak Offshore model, an undisputed benchmark in the field of Prestige sports. Keep updated with Sebastien Buemi's news on www.sebastienbuemi.com as of March 25th, 2009 Images/text provided by Paul L. & Juliane G. at Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 AutomaticThe new Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 automatic watch was officially presented a couple of weeks ago at the SIHH 2011 and immediately became a new icon of the Swiss brand.Just like it was done with the recently presented Piaget Emperador Coussin Tourbillon Ultra-Thin and the gorgeous De Bethune DB28 in titanium, the new Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 takes the idea of a skeletonized watch and, literally, turns it inside out.The main idea behind the whole concept of skeletonization is to show off the inner workings of a mechanical movement.The result is a beautifully crafted (in most cases, but not always) display, which is a real pleasure to admire, but (again, in most cases, but not always) a real pain to look at when all you need is to find out what time it is now.Millenary’s signature off-centered main dial that takes less than half of the real estate of the huge 47 x 42 mm oval-shaped case, was the best candidate to make a skeleton watch, which is both beautiful and, at the same time, absolutely legible.As you can see on the pictures, AP’s engineers reworked the automatic movement in such a way, that its regulating organ that comprises the balance, lever and escapement is moved to the periphery of the caliber and, judging by the looks of it, is positioned right in the F1 focus of the oval.It is anchored to the movement with a massive-looking bridge, which (like the rest of the 12 visible bridges) is decorated with horizontal Cotes de Geneva stripes.The main hours and minutes display is done in two solid metal parts and, decorated with applied Roman numerals, is perfectly legible, although the leaf-shaped hands would look even better if they were not skeletonized, but simply covered with some Superluminova.As usual, the result is a finely crafted, well-balanced and, let me admit that, highly desirable watch that can prove a huge success, if Audemars Piguet will manage to find the point of intersection of the supply and demand curves.