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Lot Essay
The present timepiece left the manufacture in 2000, the year of Audemars Piguet’s 125th anniversary, a detail confirmed by the accompanying certificate. It is consigned by a prominent private collector, known for assembling a refined collection centred on complicated pocket watches of the highest quality.
Beyond its rarity, the piece's artistic execution is truly outstanding. The legibility of skeletonized watches is frequently compromised, especially when combined with intricate indications that go beyond simple timekeeping. However, the design has been expertly resolved here. The large cathedral-style blued hands offer a striking contrast to the openworked metal architecture, and the subsidiary counters' deep blue chapter rings guarantee easy readability of the calendar displays. A blue minute track frames the hours on an outer ring, which is a deliberate and very successful way to optimize visibility.
This careful consideration of both form and function is reminiscent of past and subsequent Audemars Piguet landmarks, including the brand's first automatic perpetual calendar reference 25668 and the modern Royal Oak reference 26585XT, which was introduced in honor of the maison's 150th anniversary. As a result, the watch is a true mechanical masterpiece that combines rarity and horological excellence in a way that goes beyond simple technical complexity.
The production of Calibre 5020 took place over a comparatively long period of time, roughly 17 years, from 1979 to 1995. A little more than 1,000 base movement examples were produced during this time. Only about 200 of these were upgraded with a perpetual calendar module, and only about a quarter were carried out with a fully skeletonized construction within that already exclusive group. These numbers by themselves clearly show the extraordinary rarity of the present timepiece, since these skeletonized perpetual calendar calibres were dispersed among multiple references.
Beyond its rarity, the piece's artistic execution is truly outstanding. The legibility of skeletonized watches is frequently compromised, especially when combined with intricate indications that go beyond simple timekeeping. However, the design has been expertly resolved here. The large cathedral-style blued hands offer a striking contrast to the openworked metal architecture, and the subsidiary counters' deep blue chapter rings guarantee easy readability of the calendar displays. A blue minute track frames the hours on an outer ring, which is a deliberate and very successful way to optimize visibility.
This careful consideration of both form and function is reminiscent of past and subsequent Audemars Piguet landmarks, including the brand's first automatic perpetual calendar reference 25668 and the modern Royal Oak reference 26585XT, which was introduced in honor of the maison's 150th anniversary. As a result, the watch is a true mechanical masterpiece that combines rarity and horological excellence in a way that goes beyond simple technical complexity.
The production of Calibre 5020 took place over a comparatively long period of time, roughly 17 years, from 1979 to 1995. A little more than 1,000 base movement examples were produced during this time. Only about 200 of these were upgraded with a perpetual calendar module, and only about a quarter were carried out with a fully skeletonized construction within that already exclusive group. These numbers by themselves clearly show the extraordinary rarity of the present timepiece, since these skeletonized perpetual calendar calibres were dispersed among multiple references.