Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Quantième Perpétuel 25810OR

To celebrate its 120th anniversary in 1995, Audemars Piguet released a superlative Royal Oak: limited to just 120 pieces.

They had to come up with something special to mark the occasion and they certainly surpassed themselves. The two main reasons Audemars Piguet survived the quartz crisis, whilst remaining independent, and is -to this day- still very much alive, are combined in this very watch: the design and allure of the Royal Oak and the mechanical marvel that is the "Quantième Perpétuel".

Let us first enjoy the looks of the case and bracelet, that has been proven itself to be so very important and even pivotal for the entire watch industry; obviously designed by none other than Gerald Genta. The octagonal case comes in the classic "Jumbo" packaging as it is executed in 39mm and fairly thin. The 25810 is only produced in 18K pink gold and notably with a rather high amount of copper in the alloy, making it very warm. The reddish case and bracelet make the "Salmon dial" really pop.

The dial does not feature the characteristic "Tappisserie-motive" but has a smooth brushed finish instead, ceding all attention to the beautiful sub-dials. The day, month, leap-year, and date are displayed in the three upper sub-dials together with fierce blued sword hands, whereas the smaller dial at the 6 o’clock position displays a lovely moon phase indicator alongside the brand signature and the company’s anniversary dates. The dial features a rose-gold minute and hour hand handset. A third arrow-tipped hand also allows you to read the week number on the periphery of the dial, a little extra feature that the more common ref. 25820, does not have. Another notable difference is the leap-year indicator; which was a first for the RO QP.

When the watch isn’t on the wrist, you can admire the ornately decorated, precious-metal, rotor through the display caseback. If all the insane details aren’t enough, the ‘120’ cutout in the rotor reminds you that this is a special and commemorative piece to celebrate the incredible milestones the brand from Le Brassus achieved .

This rare perpetual calendar has received the full spa treatment at the Audemars Piguet service centre and is in pristine condition. Furthermore it comes with the original papers, receipt from 3 decades ago and special box that has a fully-fledged battery-powered watch winding mechanism so that you only have to set the watch once.