It’s been a momentous start to the year for Audemars Piguet, even as the watchmaker turns the page on its 150th anniversary in 2025: A new Audemars Piguet Neo Frame takes the famed horologist to new heights with a first-of-its-kind movement.
As launched at the 2026 edition of the covetable Audemars Piguet Social Club, the Audemars Piguet Neo Frame is among an astonishing array of stunning new watches, and yet manages to stand out in a field that also includes the complicated and ultra-precise Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ Extra-Thin Openworked. The Neo Frame and its Streamline design movement inspiration notably features an elegant rectangular ‘tank’ construction, but it’s what ticks along within that turned heads for AP collectors and watch enthusiasts.
The Neo Frame features an all-new AP movement, the self-winding jumping hours Calibre 7122 complication, housed within a refined pink gold and sapphire case that the watchmaker says “blends horological innovation with vintage aesthetics.” What does that mean for the wearer? The watch houses time in two visible, crisp apertures, one featuring an hour marker that “jumps” at the top of the hour. And with inspiration in spades gleaned from elegant Audemars Piguet watches of the late 1920s and early 1930s, it manages to do so in an ultra-stylish, Art Deco-tinged manner.
The jumping hour movement itself, as Hodinkee notes, dates back to its invention in pocket watch form for King Louis Philippe I, while the “tank” design of this watch very well might call to mind more famous examples of the style from companies like Cartier. At 8.8mm thick, the Neo Frame is precise and chic, boasting a glareproof sapphire caseback. And although the watch manages to look delicate and refined, its dial features black PVD treatment and gold-toned pink microblasted apertures.
The angular, integrated black calfskin leather strap is also a first for the famed horologist. And as to what this means for the future of the design and its uses for the watchmaker, Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta sung the praises of the complication in an interview with Hodinkee.
“The jumping hour is a beautiful complication. I think it responds also to the desire for extreme simplicity in watches.” Resta told Hodinkee. noting that “the shape fits very nicely with the jumping hour when you do that,” further calling the shape a “happy coincidence, and when it happens, it creates a movement, right? It creates even more people interested in that complication and shape.” For those interested in experiencing the sleek nature of the jumping hours movement in a crisp design, the Audemars Piguet Neo Frame can be found at AP boutiques and online for about $71,200.
