COLLECTING VINTAGE AUDEMARS PIGUET – A PRIMER

While Genta’s Royal Oak has established itself as the cornerstone of modern Audemars Piguet, the small maison from Le Brassus has a rich history of watchmaking stretching back nearly a century before the first octagonal screw saw the light of day. In fact, a full 98 years of watchmaking separates the formation of the company in 1875 from the unveiling of Gerald Gentas’ Royal Oak in 1973. These years saw a small, family owned watchmaking house come to produce some of the most exquisite and complicated timepiece available. To truly grasp what makes the brand special, it’s important to understand the key factors that distinguish it from the crowd.

The word “rare”, when used in the realm of vintage watches, is one we’ve become nearly desensitized to. At what production point is a watch truly considered rare? For example, the majority of Rolex watches, although well made and desirable, are not rare, as they were produced in quantities of multiple thousands. This applies to the exotic dialed ‘Paul Newman’ Daytonas, which were produced over multiple years in a total quantity in excess of 2000 pieces. Even 281 of the mythical Patek Philippe 1518 perpetual calendar chronographs were produced.

While competitors were churning out watches in the thousands, many years saw AP’s total annual production number in the hundreds, sometimes far less. In fact, Audemars Piguet did not begin serialized production until 1951, meaning every watch that left the workshop prior to that year was a totally unique creation. In this case, describing watches of this period as rare would be perfectly appropriate.

Nearly a century and a half after Jules Louis Audemars and Edward August Piguet joined forces, AP is one of two major Swiss watchmaking houses to remain in the hands of the founding families.

In addition to the Royal Oak, every Audemars Piguet timepiece crafted from 1953 to 1973 was designed by none other than legendary designer Gerald Genta.

Audemars Piguet used several different signature variations, some during the same time period. The early to mid 1940’s was a transitional period during which watches can be found signed both “AUDEMARS, PIGUET & Co.”, and “AUDEMARS, PIGUET”. Additionally the early 1970’s saw some watches signed “AUDEMARS, PIGUET”, “GENEVE” and others simply “AUDEMARS PIGUET” . For clarity be sure to check out our illustrated timeline of AP dial signature macros in our blog here.