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“This one’s for all the Suzannes out there.”
That’s how RAYE put it on the night. Poised, barefoot, glowing under the lights of 180 Studios, she delivered the line with the kind of offhand intimacy that makes you sit up and pay attention. The track that followed – “Suzanne”, a collaboration with producer Mark Ronson – was a headline moment, and the heart of the evening.
To mark its 150th anniversary, Audemars Piguet could’ve released a commemorative timepiece or thrown a heritage-heavy gala in Switzerland. Instead, they dropped a song that links their founding story to the present with a groove that doesn’t let go. The name “Suzanne” began as a lyrical whim, a placeholder in the creative back-and-forth between the two artists mid-flow. But later, in the strange way the universe sometimes winks back, it turned out Suzanne Audemars was a real person (to which they only came across in the archives in December). It was an early pillar in the brand’s legacy and a symbolic bridge between the Audemars and Piguet families. The coincidence wasn’t lost on anyone. And so the song stayed titled, and took on a weight of its own.
There was no countdown, no fanfare. Just a speakeasy hidden behind the archives of Le Brassus, recreated in the depths of London. A surprise set and then, RAYE singing “Suzanne” live for the first time.
In a way, “Suzanne” encapsulates everything AP’s music initiative has been building towards. Since 2019, the APxMusic programme has blurred the lines between sound and craft, linking horology with harmony. They’ve digitised Montreux Jazz Festival archives and even teamed up with Keinemusik, and released a mini-series on the creative process. But this felt different as it was more personal and more unexpected.
Ronson and RAYE, for all their stylistic differences, are a dream pairing. His cinematic restraint meets her no-notes, full-feeling vocals somewhere in the middle and “Suzanne” is what it sounds like when two people trust each other enough to chase a shared mood, not a formula.
“This isn’t just another project,” Ronson said of the track. “It’s something we poured ourselves into completely… all-night tracking sessions across London, New York, LA. The music carries both our musical DNA but takes us somewhere neither of us would’ve reached alone.”
The idea that good things come from unlikely syncs is also at the core of AP’s identity. Independent since 1875, the brand has long rejected industry expectations in favour of collaboration, experimentation, and a little bit of intuition.
As for RAYE? She’s the newest friend of the brand. “Making “Suzanne” with Mark Ronson was a kind of miracle and discovering the song’s underlying connection with the brand’s history was mind-blowing! I’m truly honoured to be working with AP and the legendary Mark Ronson,” she explains. “I love this song and am so proud of it… it feels like everything was meant to be.”
Fresh off a BRIT Awards sweep and a setlist that’s dominated every major festival stage from Coachella to Glastonbury, she brings that rare combination of edge, elegance, and unfiltered honesty. Her presence doesn’t just complement AP’s direction but it sharpens it.
So no, there wasn’t a watch reveal that night. There was something arguably rarer: a moment that felt unscripted, track with soul, and the quiet sense that maybe this is how legacy should sound.
