Audemars Piguet is a never-ending fount of inspiration. Just look at this sumptuous dress watch from the 1970s.
Audemars Piguet is a company of extremes: the producer of ultra classic dress watches as well as bombastic luxury sports models like the Royal Oak. This ref. 5403BC was certainly intended as part of the former category with its classic size (34 mm), fine material (18k white gold), and exquisite diamond-set dial. Yet, the execution is uncharacteristically flashy.
We’ve seen watches with integrated bracelets before. Hell, the Audemars Piguet name is practically synonymous with integrated bracelets due to the Royal Oak. But this baby takes the term ‘integrated’ one step further. The watch is, in fact, produced from one long piece of chunky braided 18k white gold. As a result, it’s unclear where the bracelet ends and the watch begins; truly an example of organic design.
The flashy look of the watch is carefully balanced by the classic dial. The beautiful deep blue background accentuates the white printing and the discreet date window at 3 o’clock. Meanwhile, the indices are factory set with delicate diamond with a double diamond index at the 12 o’clock position. The inclusion of thin 18k white gold sword hands further underscores the dressy nature of the watch.
The ultra-thin automatic movement of this 5403BC is in excellent running condition and the watch comes with an extract of the Audemars Piguet archives.