Image via Eugene Gologursky/Getty
Watchmaking and hitmaking are a lot alike. Both require a lifetime of careful study, hours of expert craftsmanship, and a spark of ingenuity to make something singular and moving that conceals all its complexities within a package that can appear simple from the outside. Such similarities aren’t lost on the Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet, which, as part of its burgeoning Music Programme, recently named super-producer Mark Ronson its newest brand ambassador.
To kickoff the partnership’s first offering, AP launched a dedicated long-term collaborative programme: a three-episode series entitled Syncing Sounds, which retraces the creative process of making “Too Much”—the song which Ronson wrote and recorded with 2022 Grammy winner Lucky Daye. To celebrate the song, the brand hosted an exclusive premiere performance of “Too Much” last Thursday at its soon-to-open AP House in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. With all the pieces in place, the time was right to party.
The soiree began at dusk, as guests crunched on canapes and sipped champagne amongst tropical bouquets of green and white anthuriums. Treasured AP timepieces gleamed behind glass on one wall. Ronson warmed up the crowd with a quick DJ set while wearing testaments to his fandom of his collaborators: his favorite AP, the Royal Oak, and a T-shirt from Lucky’s most recent tour autographed by the New Orleans artist himself.
Of course, this perfect Ronson-Daye pairing was only the latest win for Audemars Piguet’s music programme, which the fine watchmaker launched in 2019 to support rising musicians through collaboration. In 2020, Audemars Piguet presented its 180 Miniseries, which offered a diverse group of rising musicians three days and total creative control to write and record an original collaborative soundtrack, with a different film director capturing each song and process. In this way, Synching Sounds and “Too Much” continue AP’s tradition of fostering artistic encounters, live music, and in-person collaboration.
And Daye understands that heritage perfectly. “I understand why [AP] chose Mark,” he told Complex about getting tapped to work with the man and the brand, “because 100 years from now his music will still be iconic. So for Mark to be a fan of me is incredible, it validates the effort I’ve put into trying to make classic music.”
As the Jackson 5 blended into ODB and then Pusha T, the dancefloor warmed up enough for the main event. Lucky Daye stepped into the spotlight wearing a navy suit (printed with a fitting mix of royal paisley and diagrams reminiscent of watch schematics), his Royal Oak Offshore peeking out from the cuff of his mic hand. A flourish of flutes and a boogie-down bassline kicked in, and Lucky, in his debonair flair, sang in perfect sync with Ronson’s groove.
“In the music industry, we don’t say, ‘Oh, this will be a hit,’” Lucky said about his expectations of the song. “You go into it with good intentions and you put your 100% in and the song does the rest. I don’t care as long as people feel good when they hear it.” Judging by the small crowd’s raucous reaction that night, the song succeeded with panache.
After the performance came the afterparty, where the night’s constellation of VIPs—music artists, AP owners, and style influencers—mingled under the clear sky on the AP House’s grand outdoor terrace. AP’s CEO François-Henry Bennahmias shared laughs with Migos’ Offset; rocker Marky Ramone mingled with AP’s Head of Complications, Michael Friedman, while tastemakers s like Vashtie, Kristin Noel Crawley, Wisdom Kaye, and Don C chatted and enjoyed the night.
This kind of cross-cultural hobnobbing is exactly what Audemars Piguet hopes to foster in its music programme and at its growing AP Houses, where diverse forces of creativity can come together to make something that stands the test of time, like clockwork.
“I’ve never felt so much love from people I assumed would be strangers,” said Lucky, the day after the event. “And when I get comfortable, I get ideas to share, like, ‘Oh, that’s how y’all do it? This how we do it.’ I’m excited to help bring the two worlds together. We’re going to make a moment.”