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Lot Essay
Since the Royal Oak’s launch in 1972, few models of the range have ever been made in platinum and consequently they are extremely difficult to obtain. The present D-series watch, also with early edition number '035' and ravishing mother of pearl dial, offers a perfect opportunity for the discerning buyer to acquire one of the most exclusive statement vintage Royal Oaks.
The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar, first introduced in 1982, combines two of the great icons of Audemars Piguet’s heritage, the Royal Oak model and the perpetual calendar complication. The reference 25686 was manufactured from 1987 with sales to the public starting from 1989. Only 299 pieces of the reference were produced in total across all metals. It is thought that 31 were made in platinum, 70 in yellow gold, 92 in steel, 37 in pink gold and platinum, 18 in pink gold, 26 in steel and platinum and 25 in platinum and pink gold. Reference 25686 was introduced as an updated version of reference 25654, the main difference being the crystal display caseback showcasing the ionic automatic Calibre 2120⁄2800 movement which features a hand-engraved openworked ‘AP’ rotor with 21K gold insert.
The visually stunning mother of pearl dial has a wonderful bluish tone, subsidiaries for the date, day and month and a moon phase with 29 1⁄2 day lunar calendar complete this ultra-rare vintage platinum Royal Oak. The perpetual calendar reference 25686 shares characteristics of many of the earlier Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar models in not having a leap-year indication on the dial. In fact the leap-year function did not appear on the Royal Oak until the caliber 2120⁄2802 movement was introduced in 1993. The dials of the reference 25686 can be distinguished as ‘Mark 1’ with small ‘Audemars Piguet Automatic’ script at 6 o’clock (the present watch) and ‘Mark 2’ with noticeably larger ‘Audemars Piguet’ script.
The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar, first introduced in 1982, combines two of the great icons of Audemars Piguet’s heritage, the Royal Oak model and the perpetual calendar complication. The reference 25686 was manufactured from 1987 with sales to the public starting from 1989. Only 299 pieces of the reference were produced in total across all metals. It is thought that 31 were made in platinum, 70 in yellow gold, 92 in steel, 37 in pink gold and platinum, 18 in pink gold, 26 in steel and platinum and 25 in platinum and pink gold. Reference 25686 was introduced as an updated version of reference 25654, the main difference being the crystal display caseback showcasing the ionic automatic Calibre 2120⁄2800 movement which features a hand-engraved openworked ‘AP’ rotor with 21K gold insert.
The visually stunning mother of pearl dial has a wonderful bluish tone, subsidiaries for the date, day and month and a moon phase with 29 1⁄2 day lunar calendar complete this ultra-rare vintage platinum Royal Oak. The perpetual calendar reference 25686 shares characteristics of many of the earlier Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar models in not having a leap-year indication on the dial. In fact the leap-year function did not appear on the Royal Oak until the caliber 2120⁄2802 movement was introduced in 1993. The dials of the reference 25686 can be distinguished as ‘Mark 1’ with small ‘Audemars Piguet Automatic’ script at 6 o’clock (the present watch) and ‘Mark 2’ with noticeably larger ‘Audemars Piguet’ script.