When Audemars Piguet launched the Royal Oak in 1972—the first luxury watch to treat stainless steel as a precious metal—it opened doors for the brand in terms of exploring traditional and unconventional materials such as platinum, carbon, alacrite and more. Now in 2015, Audemars Piguet has made waves in the luxury watch industry again: bringing yellow gold back to the forefront. The universal emblem of indestructible beauty, energy and light, yellow gold also symbolises wealth and power. Now, the new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar celebrates the timeless allure of yellow gold by combining it with the most classic yet complicated details.
The “Grande Tapisserie” decorated dials feature a subtle pattern of 3D squares—the traditional displays of a perpetual calendar are given pride of place as day, month and date on the nine, noon and three o’clock dials respectively. The essential leap year indication, an Audemars Piguet innovation first introduced to wristwatch design in 1955, takes centre stage at noon, whereas an astronomical moon is located at six o’clock, and you will find the week of the year displayed on the dial’s outer chapter ring.
The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar’s new calibre 5134 is visible through the sapphire crystal caseback. Despite being based on the calibre 2120, it has now been enlarged to fit the latest 41mm case size. This new edition was inspired partly by the first Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar (reference 5554, later renamed 25554) designed by Jacqueline Dimier in 1984. 229 of the 279 pieces in that original launch were beautifully cased in yellow gold.
Related stories:
Audemars Piguet’s amazing new museum
Revolutionary watchmaking: The top 3 watches to covet
Own now: The Military trend
| SHARE THE STORY | |
| Explore More |
