835Σ︎
Audemars Piguet
Ref. 25870BC.O.002
John Shaeffer Triple Calendar, "Yves Klein" Blue
A fresh-to-the-market, highly rare and attractive white gold cushion-shaped triple calendar wristwatch with Yves Klein blue dial, small seconds, warranty and presentation box
Full-Cataloguing
- Fresh to the market, debut at Phillips
- Rare John Shaeffer Yves Klein blue dial triple calendar in white gold
- Complete with warranty and presentation box sold from Japan in 1999
John Wallace Shaeffer was not a watchmaker and not a celebrity. He was an American industrialist—vice-chairman of Allied Chemical and Dye—who, in the mid-1920s, bought one of Audemars Piguet’s rarest objects of the era: a miniature minute-repeating wristwatch in a cushion case of platinum. The watch later entered the Maison’s heritage collection and, seventy years on, gave its name to a short 1990s capsule that revived that same compact, cushion-shaped case.
Most of that revival is remembered for chiming watches. The reference 25870 is the quieter sibling, a manual wound triple calendar sized at 32.5mm, powered by calibre 2085. Day, date and month sit in a subtly recessed counters with a running seconds at six.
Within that already small family, the blue-dial 25870 is the configuration that stays in the mind. According to Hodinkee’s research compiling data from the Audemars Piguet 20th Century Complicated Wristwatches book and market, there are about a total of 180 examples of ref. 25870 produced and 60 in white gold. Extremely attractive with a Yves Klein blue like dial contrasted with white numerals, the hours and minutes are told through cathedral hands.
A debut to grace Phillips auction room, this example is preserved with its original warranty and presentation box sold in Japan in 1999.
Audemars Piguet
Swiss | 1881A 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.