Louis Audemars & Cie was established in 1811 by Louis-Benjamin Audemars in the hamlet of Le Crêt Meylan, near Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. Throughout his life, Louis-Benjamin pursued a long-held dream: to produce complete watches, including both movement and case, within the Vallée de Joux and to ensure these watches bore his name for customers to see.

By the late 1840s, the founder’s vision had come to fruition. With his sons driving the effort, some creations were finished and signed by their makers, marking the first enterprise in the Vallée de Joux to produce complete watches from start to finish under their own name. Louis Audemars employed up to 180 artisans, most of whom worked from home in small workshops, adhering to the établissage system, where each workshop specialized in producing a single movement component. This network of highly skilled artisans established the region as the epicenter of complicated watchmaking from the 19th century onward.

Louis-Benjamin and his sons created exceptionally high quality watch movements and precision "complications". The present example showcases perhaps the most celebrated combination of horological features: a minute repeater, perpetual calendar and chronograph, primarily hand-crafted and regarded as among the finest in the world.

With a German calendar on the dial and Chimera hallmarks on the cuvette and case, this 18K gold watch was imported to France between 1838 and 1893, likely intended for a French retailer catering to a German customer. The case number 0’136 may indicate that it is one of the earlier examples crafted.

The craftsmanship extends beyond the movement to the pink gold case, which is exquisitely engraved to the highest standards of the Vallée de Joux. Although Louis-Benjamin Audemars did not establish the Audemars Piguet brand, his legacy solidified the Audemars family's status in Haute Horology, making them one of the most influential and esteemed watchmakers to this day.