Audemars Piguet - The Royal Oak 50th Geneva Friday, May 6, 2022 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
    Year: 1998
    Reference No: 25820ST
    Movement No: 448'060
    Case No: D80545.19
    Model Name: Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar "Yves Klein"
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal 2120/2802, 38 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Audemars Piguet bracelet, max length 185mm
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Audemars Piguet deployant clasp
    Dimensions: 39mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and clasp signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Audemars Piguet Certificate of Authenticity, Extract from the Archives confirming sale of the present watch on January 20, 1998 and self-winding box with outer packaging. Further accompanied by Audemars Piguet and Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo co-signed Royal Oak 50th Anniversary Attestation.

  • Catalogue Essay

    Arguably the best known dial color found on Royal Oak timepieces, the present watch features a "sapphire blue" dial according to the official Audemars Piguet nomenclature. However, even the greenest watch enthusiast is aware of the fact that the community knows it by a different, very appropriate nickname: the "Yves Klein".

    Active during the mid-twentieth century, Yves Klein was a member of the Nouveau-Réalisme movement. He is best known for his bright blue monochrome paintings and sculptures. Amusingly, at his first public exhibition he featured canvases of different colors (orange, red, yellow, pink and blue) but the reaction of the public - who insisted on finding an unexisting connection between the works - prompted him from then on to radicalize his work even more and focus on just one color: the now famous Yves Klein blue, of which this dial color is -serendipitously - a near-perfect replica.

  • 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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Ref. 25820ST
A very rare and attractive stainless steel perpetual calendar wristwatch with sapphire blue dial, certificate and self-winding box

1998
39mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and clasp signed

Estimate
CHF100,000 - 200,000 
€98,200-196,000
$106,000-212,000

Sold for CHF302,400

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi

Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East

+41 22 317 81 81
AGhotbi@phillips.com

 

Virginie Liatard-Roessli
Head of Sale, Specialist
+41 76 338 91 03
vliatard@phillips.com

The Royal Oak 50th

Geneva Auction 6 May 2022