News Audemars Piguet announced that it has acquired the “S. Smith & Son Astronomical Watch,” commonly known as the “Grand Pièce,” a pocket watch featuring super-complications and one of the most significant timepieces in the company's history, at Sotheby's.
On December 8, 2025, at Sotheby's Important Watches auction in New York, Audemars Piguet secured the historic “Gros Pièce” pocket watch, part of the “Olmsted Complications Collection,” as the company celebrated its 150th anniversary. Audemars Piguet's acquisition of this historic masterpiece at auction reaffirms the brand's mission to preserve its watchmaking heritage and showcase its exceptional savoir-faire to the world.
Commissioned in 1914 and completed in 1921, the ultra-complicated “Grand Pièce” pocket watch was delivered to S. Smith & Son that same year. It then disappeared from public view for many years, known only through archival documents and rare photographs. A document dated January 1915 details research on sidereal time, the zodiac, solstices, and the northern hemisphere night sky, offering a glimpse into the pioneering spirit and exceptional craftsmanship that defined the golden age of watchmaking.
Housed in an 18K yellow gold case, the “Grosses Pièce” is the most comprehensive astronomical watch ever produced by Audemars Piguet and one of the earliest works to feature a sky chart. It depicts the London night sky with 315 stars and displays sidereal time, a perpetual calendar, moon phase, and equation of time. The only ultra-complicated pocket watch made by Audemars Piguet in the 20th century, it features a minute repeater, grand and petit sonnerie, chronograph, and a tourbillon—the only one in the Maison's pocket watches at the time.
The “Grande Pièce,” housing 19 complications, stands alongside the legendary 1899 ‘Universelle’ as the most complex pocket watch in Audemars Piguet's history. Like the “Universelle,” it is a living testament to the Establissement System of the Vallée de Joux, recounting the history of master craftsmen coming together to create the most complex timepieces of the early 20th century.
Long held as part of the renowned Olmsted Collection, this historic masterpiece, the “Grande Pièce,” has been viewed by only a select few under strict conditions. Following a world tour spanning several years, it will be displayed at the AP House and events before finding its permanent home at the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus.
December 22, 2025
