Audemars Piguet - The Geneva Watch Auction: SIX Geneva Friday, November 10, 2017 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
    Year: 2003
    Reference No: 26017PT.ZZ.1190PT.03
    Movement No: 54'8720
    Case No: E73'346 further stamped 079
    Model Name: Royal Oak
    Material: Platinum and diamonds
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 2120/2802, 38 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Platinum and diamond-set Audemars Piguet bracelet, max length 190mm.
    Clasp/Buckle: Platinum and diamond-set Audemars Piguet folding deployant clasp signed AP
    Dimensions: 39mm. Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Audemars Piguet Extrait de Registre indicating the watch was a unique piece made for the opening of the Audemars Piguet New York boutique in 2003.

  • Catalogue Essay

    There are timepieces whose sheer flamboyance and exuberance verges on magnificence and pure awesomeness. The present platinum and diamond-set perpetual calendar Royal Oak is one of them.

    Made as a unique piece to commemorate the opening of Audemars Piguet’s New York boutique in 2003, the present watch offers tension between its intellectual perception and physical experience. This perpetual calendar Royal Oak with its white metal case, salmon dial and fully paved case and bracelet is seductive and elegant but, once on the wrist, the sheer heft of the platinum case and bracelet confers a sense of pure machismo to the watch.

    Launched in 1982, exactly 10 years after the launch of the original model, the perpetual calendar Royal Oak was not only a rare complication at the time as very few brands were still producing them but the audacity of housing this delicate complication in a sports watch was mind boggling.

    Interestingly, the birth of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar is the result of research undertaken by three brilliant watchmakers wishing to create an extra slim perpetual calendar mechanism built upon caliber 2120, which cased other iconic models such as Patek Philippe's Nautilus, Vacheron Constantin's 222 and the Royal Oak itself.

    The present lot uses the same tapisserie motif found on the Royal Oak dials but with a flat central ring creating greater contrast.

    This unique Royal Oak perpetual calendar is a timepiece for the artistically inclined collector showing free spirit with a dash of panache, a watch that the celebrated dandy Charles Swann would most probably be wearing had Proust given him life at the end of the 20th century.

  • Artist Biography

    Audemars Piguet

    Swiss • 1881

    A specialist in the manufacture of complications since it was established in 1881, Audemars Piguet never ceases to impress with a rich history of creating bold, even audacious, timepieces underpinned by traditional watchmaking at its finest. This Le Brassus-based Swiss manufacturer is one of only two major manufacturers still owned by the founding family. Since its earliest days, AP is considered a leader in the field of minute repeaters and grande complication pocket and wristwatches. The brand is devoted to preserving the history of watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux, showcased at their superb museum in Le Brassus.

    Today, the brand is best known for its Royal Oak models, a revolutionary luxury sports watch launched in 1972. Other key models include early minute repeating wristwatches, vintage chronograph wristwatches, such as the oversized reference 5020, perpetual calendar watches and the Royal Oak Offshore, first introduced in 1993.

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166

Ref. 26017PT.ZZ.1190PT.03
A fine and unique platinum and diamond-set perpetual calendar wristwatch with bracelet, moonphases and salmon dial

2003
39mm. Diameter
Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed

Estimate
CHF120,000 - 180,000 
€104,000-155,000
$124,000-186,000

Sold for CHF187,500

Contact Specialist
Alexandre Ghotbi
+41 22 317 81 89
aghotbi@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: SIX

Geneva Auctions 11 - 12 November 2017