Audemars Piguet Millenary Chronograph Luxury Watch Review

http://www.thewatchbox.com/watches/audemars-piguet The Audemars Piguet Millenary Chronograph is a mass of glorious contradictions. In a segment dominated by round watches this 18-karat rose gold Millenary goes long – oblong. While rivals take pains to ensure symmetrical balance in design, the Millenary Chronograph looks like a Dali falling into a black hole. And while competitors in the haute horologerie flee from controversy, the Millenary revels in its audacity. Le Brassus, Switzerland-based horological hitmaker Audemars Piguet launched its original oval-shaped Millenary luxury wristwatch in 1995. Of the many watches to test the oval case concept, the Millenary has proved to be the most enduring – and most ambitious – by far. Since the 1970s (Omega Dynamic) and as recently as the 2000s (Ulysse Nardin Macho Palladium 950), the oval watch has been a recurring sight on the luxury landscape. The Millenary alone has succeeded against the round case orthodoxy. Styled for its '95 debut by 25 year-old design prodigy Emmanuel Gueit of Royal Oak Offshore fame, the Millenary's prestige rose dramatically when its 38mm case expanded to a contemporary 47mm width in the early 2000s. By the end of the decade, Audemars Piguet was well on its way to establishing the Millenary as a third pillar of its product line alongside the high horology pieces and the small universe of Royal Oak variants. This full-size Audemars Piguet Millenary Chronograph boldly declares that the definitive oval o