Two things sum up the 1980s era Audemars Piguet to us: its pioneering automatic perpetual calendar line and its dress watches with funky geometric shapes.

As the watch industry was buckling under the weight of the quartz crisis, Audemars Piguet introduced the world’s thinnest automatic movement with a perpetual calendar complication. The resulting line of precious metal dress watches was in production from 1978 until the early 1990s and contained watches in different precious metals and with various dial options, often produced in small numbers.

The significance of the automatic perpetual calendar line is twofold. For one, it signaled Audemars Piguet’s return to its roots as a maker of high complications. A bold move at a time when the traditional Swiss watch industry was experiencing a life-threatening crisis. Second, these watches, along with the recently introduced Royal Oak, allowed the company to grow rapidly while most of its competitors struggled or went under.

The QP line consists of mostly round watches. However, this early reference 5557 from 1982 is an exception. Unlike the typical dress watch—round, thin, and on a leather strap—this geometric beauty features a 35 mm octagonal (8-sided) case with a round stepped bezel. Following the flashy 1980s taste, the case is executed in a two-tone variety: 18k white and yellow gold. If that weren’t enough, this 5557CA comes on a sumptuous two-tone 18k gold integrated bracelet in an exquisite woven style.

The two-tone theme is continued on the dial. The satin finish silver background is contrasted with four beautiful sunken sub-registers with gold detailing and a matching 18k yellow gold handset. The day, month, leap-year, and date functions are displayed in the three upper subdials together with fierce blued sword hands, whereas the smaller dial at the 6 o’clock position houses a lovely moonphase indicator alongside the Audemars Piguet signature.

An important standout of the QP line is the automatic movement. This movement was based on Jaeger Lecoultre’s legendary ultra-thin caliber 920 base movement, which was used, among others, in Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, Vacheron Constantin’s 222. For the perpetual calendar line, Audemars Piguet reworked the base caliber to include a perpetual calendar complication and a 21k yellow-gold rotor.

This wonderful 5557CA is in excellent condition and has just returned from a full service at our trusted Audemars Piguet service center. The watch comes with the Extract from the Archives and Audemars Piguet service papers.