As it’s been a few months since we last posted on anything vintage Audemars Piguet, we felt it high time to break out the drum and give it a good beating. The following are some of our favorite bits of content and the result of no few bleary-eyed Bunnahabhain fueled nights playing the digital sleuth.
You’ll find the requisite Hodinkee material (Inside the Archives, The Marcus Collection), as well as some older more obscure pieces (The John Shaeffer, A 5516 at Christies, and A French Lieutenants 1938 Chronograph), a lusciously illustrated write up from Bexsonn, and an interview with the most well known watch designer of all time.
So kick back, pour a finger or two (look to BEXSONN for assistance with the selection), and get ready to dive in.
1.) First up is an interview with the man that designed every Audemars Piguet timepiece from 1953 up until the release of the Royal Oak in 1972. In December 2009 Veryimportantwatches.com sat down with legend Gerald Genta to talk watches. The discussion ranges from hist start as an artist and winds its way through his most well known designs. This is a must read for anyone with more than a passing interest in vintage watches or design in general.
2.) In this short 8 minute video, then Audemars Piguet brand historian Michael Friedman and Museum Director Sebastian Vivas take a closer look at some of the museums more unique pieces. Beautiful classic grand complication pocket watches and minute repeaters abound.
3.) If there’s one thing the gents at BEXSONN do extremely well, it’s capture sublime photos of equally sublime watches. In this piece we’re fortunate to find their lenses pointed at some incredibly beautiful and rare calendar watches from the first half of the last century that at the time resided in the Marcus Margulies collection. Marcus has since sold most of his collection to Audemars Piguet, but this well shot feature is not to be missed. (See Marcus’ chronograph collection here.)
4.) Next, Hodinkee examines a separate cross section of the Marcus collection, including a 1944 “World-Time” VZAS powered piece in steel, an esoteric 1980’s tourbillon and the worlds smallest minute repeater.
5.) In 2015 Audemars Piguet brand historian Michael Friedman weighed in on what he believed to be the best vintage AP’s on the market at the time. On the list is an undeniably good 5093 “Disco Volante” in rarely seen white gold with an unbelievably clean hand-painted multi tone dial, a three register VZ chronograph with beautifully toned gold case, and the crem de la crem, a mind-blowing 38mm minute repeater in yellow gold.
6.) The next feature is dedicated to a single watch, and what a watch it is – a platinum minute repeater with stunningly crisp diamond dial on a full platinum bracelet. The watch also distinguishes itself as the only minute repeater that AP made in the post war years on a platinum bracelet. Even more interestingly, the watch wasn’t born as we see it, but was modified at the request of its original owner.
7.) The next feature provides an answer to those curious what a watch created by Audemars Piguet and branded and sold by Cartier might look like. This platinum cased minute repeater from 1929 is just the classic understated beauty we’d hope to emerge from such a collaboration.
8.) A closer look at another platinum minute repeater – the “John Shaeffer” is one of the most well known and recognizable vintage Audemars Piguet watches. Although it was made specially for industrialist John W. Shaeffer in the 1920’s, the movement was originally made in 1907.
9.) Audemars Piguet’s reference 5516 is very special watch for a couple of reasons. Not only is this reference incredibly rare (only 9 examples exist), its VZ based powerplant was the very first perpetual calendar to feature a leap year indicator. Here, Hodinkees’ Ben Clymer takes a look at a beautiful example as it gets set to go under the hammer at Christies back in 2015. The watch unsurprisingly shattered its conservative pre-auction estimate of $150,000 – $300,000 US, hammering at a cool $545,000 US. Check out the original item listing at Christies here.
10.) The right combination of beauty, rarity and provenance is almost certain to turn heads (and open wallets). The watch featured here has a healthy dose of all three, as it’s not simply a 1938 2-register chronograph, but one fitted with what is likely a unique tri-tonal dial, seldom seen (at the time) luminous material on the hands and dial, and real World War provenance.
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