Fresh from the Showcase here at SwissWatchExpo this morning, we're talking about the Audemars
Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. This is a phenomenal watch. And even if you never knew
anything about watchmaking before watching this video, you'll understand that this is an absolute
master class in how to make a watch. This is the reference 26574ST. It was launched in 2015
for the 2016 model year and this particular one that we have here in stock at SwissWatchExpo,
this is the silver dial, what does not being made anymore. So, collectors around the world - when we
posted this watch - have sort of gone crazy about it so it might not be in stock by the
time you're seeing this video. But nonetheless go to SwissWatchExpo, mouse-over Brands and
click on Audemars Piguet and see everything that we've got from this fantastic brand.
This watch - when it came out - it was a little bigger than the previous models that
had been 39 millimeters. This one's 41mm and with Royal Oaks in general, they tend to be
pretty thick watches and they tend to wear a little bigger than they really would measure. So,
if you think 41 millimeter might not be big enough for you, I would argue that it wears really more
like a 42, 43, 44 because of just the shape and the way there's an extension to the lugs with
a Royal Oak where it covers more of the wrist. So, if you think that might not be big enough,
I'd say it probably is. This really is the perfect size at 41 millimeter. It's not a real thick
watch that the movement is kind of an Ultra Thin and so it only measures 9.5 millimeters thick.
So, if you're concerned at all about the Royal Oaks reputation as sort of a bulky watch and
maybe not fitting under the shirt cuff that sort of thing, this one would work great for
day-to-day, everyday wear for sure. Now, as far as the design of the watch itself,
just like any other Royal Oak, you've got this beautifully hand-finished bezel, there's really
one of the things that set AP from other companies is that the watches are handmade.
So there's no machine stamped out mass production. It's really a class in the art of metal crafting.
So, what you see is the ends of the bolts that are in the porthole bezel - one of the signature
Gérald Genta design - then it tapers into the bracelet. And the bracelet, every single link
is handmade for this particular bracelet. They are perfectly tapered.
The bevels are perfect. The inside of the bracelet is finished where it's not going to grab any skin
or hair or anything like that. The clasp is really nice. It's got the buttons here and it's a double
deployant so that you can see it's got a finishes that are sandblasted. It's very heavy duty. And
this shows us this beautiful movement. It's got the exhibition case back again. This is a really
thin movement, for what it is the fact that it has all these complications, the movement itself is
only 4.31 millimeters thick. They tell me at the AP website, but it's just an incredible movement.
As we've mentioned here before on our YouTube channel, there's a lot more cross pollination
between watch companies than people might initially realize this movement was developed
in 1967 by Jaeger LeCoultre. Now they never used it in one of their watches themselves.
They actually developed it for what's called the Holy Trinity of watchmaking: Patek Philippe,
Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet. All three watch companies used the movement over
the years. The only one that's still making it is Audemars Piguet, and they make it entirely
themselves in-house, but it's based on the caliber 2120. This is a new caliber that came out in 2015,
and for this watch it's caliber 5134. It beats sort of odd today. Most watches beat at 28800.
This one is a 19800 beat movement, and one of the reasons they were able to make it
so thin. You see this beautiful rotor here - it's got the AP logo in reverse,
but it rides on a little ring that goes around the movement and it makes it a lot more stable. It
also allowed them to give a lot smaller tolerances between the rotor and the rest of the movement.
And that's what made it so thin. So all of that adds up to why this watch
is pretty thin and you're able to wear it just about with anything every day. So just taking a
quick tour of the dial, though, you can see there are a lot of complication features on this. The
dial itself - it is a silver grand top pessary, movement. I mean - sorry - dial that is one of the
signatures of the Royal collection. You can see it's got kind of a waffle finish to it. And it's
one of their hallmarks. They use a tool that was developed in the 19th century. That's kind of like
the children's toy where it transfers the design from one thing to another, the spiral graph. So it
has a large, master that has this waffle pattern on it.
And they use a tool to transfer that onto the dial itself, which has made out of bronze.
And then it's silvered. So again, the silver dial is not made anymore. So this is something that is
extremely important to collectors and that people are going crazy about. But when you look at the,
at the dial, you'll notice at the top, at the 12 o'clock register, it shows the leap years that has
L at the top. And then it has the cycle that you're in the one, two, three, four,
cycle of the leap year. So it knows whether February has 28 or 29 days in any particular year.
It also shows the phases of the moon at 6 o'clock. And if you could see this in the video,
I'm not sure if it'll come through where you can see it, but it's really interesting the
way the moon phases are displayed. There's a stone background to the photo realistic moon.
The stone is called venturing, and it gives sort of a dark blue with sparkles, like stars in it.
It's just an amazing detail to the watch. And I could look at it all day, but then you also have
the day of the week and the month, and then around the outside chapter ring,
it shows the week number of the, where you are in the year. So there are 52 spots at any moment.
You can look down at your watch and impress your friends, tell them that this is week 37.
so, if you're, a guy who would like to wear this watch day to day, you already know it.
You probably don't need this video, but for everyone else, this is fascinating.
Watch from the world of watchmaking. One of the most complicated movements
that we carry here at SwissWatchExpo, it's a great find, difficult to find in this condition.
This one's just absolutely mint. when you look at it, it doesn't look like it's ever been worn at
all. Click on the bell, like and subscribe. Mouse over AP on our website and see what we have in
stock. SwissWatchExpo, give us a call. We're happy to talk watches andexplain anything in this video
that wasn't exactly clear about how this watch works or what it features or what it shows. Tell
us in the comments, what you like about it, what you don't like, what do you wish it had. Thanks.