Audemars Piguet ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR 26615TI.OO.1220TI.01

Audemars Piguet ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR Watch Replica 26615TI.OO.1220TI.01

WATCH
Ref #26615TI.OO.1220TI.01

CASE
Titanium case, glareproofed sapphire crystal and caseback.

CASE SIZE
41 mm

WATER RESISTANCE
20 m

CASE THICKNESS
9.50 mm

DIAL
“Salmon” dial with “Grande Tapisserie” pattern, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating, “salmon” toned inner bezel.

BRACELET
Titanium bracelet with AP folding clasp.

FUNCTIONS
Perpetual calendar with week indication, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year, hours and minutes.

MECHANISM
Self winding

Year
2021

The true performance of the legendary 5516 was unveiled in 1955 with the watch shown in the picture. A total of three watches were manufactured. What makes them unique is the use of a full 48-month leap year display, similar to the display Jules Audemars created for his school watch in 1875. The information here is beautifully arranged and cleverly arranged. Friedman said: “It’s incredible the level of technology to make these enamel dials. See how tiny and fine the details must be to complete this 48-month instruction.”

The central hand shows the date relative to the scale printed on the periphery of the dial, similar to the two pre-series 5516 made in 1948. The moon phase is displayed at 12 o’clock, while the month is actually displayed twice, one in a clean, easy-to-read indicator at three o’clock, and the second at six o’clock in the informative 48-month leap year cycle position. Based on the rich information on the dial, it can be understood that the date is the most important information after the time. For maximum legibility, it has been moved to the periphery of the dial. Finally, at nine o’clock, you will see the days of the week. The hours and minutes are indicated by a central gold hand, while the second hand is displayed on a small gold hand mounted coaxially with the blue hand to indicate a leap year. Audemars Piguet ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR

All blue hands are related to calendar information, and all gold hands are related to time. The revelation represented by 5516 cannot be overemphasized. For the first time, someone can set up their perpetual calendar without having to take it to the watchmaker to get the watch dial and set it. Interestingly, the watch in the picture was made in 1955 and sold to Vacheron Constantin in 1959.

Okay, let’s take a look at the comparison between the 5516 and the Patek Philippe 2497, the only other serially produced perpetual calendar watch at the time. Patek Philippe can be regarded as minimalism or even minimalism, while Audemars Piguet is just the opposite, full of information. AP has a bold styling, while Patek Philippe is restrained. Assuming that Audemars is barefoot Brigitte Bardot, in Vadim’s And God Created Woman to Patek Philippe’s elegant Grace Kelly, all tanned, buttocks are undulating. If these watches are ladies’ watches, then you might want to take one of them home to your parents, while the other might make you fall in love with each other. I will let you decide which is which.

The second series of references. 5516
The last six examples of Audemars Piguet Reference 5516 are a big leap in design language. All six watches were put into production in 1957 and sold between 1963 and 1969.

The main difference between these watches and their predecessors is that at this point, Audemars Piguet decided to avoid the busy 48-month leap year cycle display and replaced it with a clean display at 12 o’clock, which is simple but perfectly expressing where you are. In the cycle.

Did Philip Stern notice this display when he created the 3970 and 3940 in 1985? Did these two Patek Philippe perpetual calendars also use this form of leap year display? (The first Patek Philippe with a leap year indicator was the 3450 in 1981, and it will be displayed in an aperture).

Due to this key change, the dials of these second series 5516 watches are significantly cleaner. However, it’s interesting that among the six watches, one watch numbered 73012 will retain the full 48-month display and place it in the small dial at 12 o’clock, which makes me believe that only a magnifying glass is used. Can read it glass.

Perpetual calendar replica watch. Movement and case number 73012. 13VZSSQP movement, 18 carat gold case. Gold dial, silver plated. Black enamel numbers and text. Apply the golden time scale. Gold chronograph hands. Blue steel calendar pointer. The movement was manufactured in 1957 and the watch was sold to Vacheron Constantin (Genève) in 1968. Audemars Piguet Heritage Collection, Inv. 1716.

Rescue AP’s watch
Ultra-thin automatic perpetual calendar Ref. 5548
The year is 1969. Seiko launched Astron, a seemingly harmless and reasonably priced digital quartz watch with an oscillation frequency of 32,768 Hz, and its accuracy is much higher than that of any high-frequency mechanical chronometer certified by the observatory, which triggered the quartz crisis. (It should be noted that the Swiss are also studying quartz technology, but the market was defeated by Seiko).

Due to the large-scale turmoil, countless ancient watch factories faced bankruptcy and extinction, and orders for mechanical watches dried up overnight. For Swiss watch brands, this has become a question of survival.

As we all know, in 1972, just when Switzerland was hit hard, Audemars Piguet launched the legendary and iconic Royal Oak, which should objectively be recognized as the most daring watch of the late 20th century. From a design point of view, this watch erases any connection with the past.

Instead, it uses a non-traditional case structure, with exposed screws passing through the octagonal bezel to the back cover, and is equipped with exposed rubber gaskets as its unique design theme. This is also the world’s first sports fashion watch with integrated bracelet. The bracelet made by Gay Frères is considered a seamless part of the watch’s organic whole. Interestingly, although this watch has a diameter of 39 mm, which gives it the nickname “Jumbo”, it is actually very thin due to the use of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 2121 calibre and a thickness of only 3.05 mm. Only 7.2 mm (this is a 2120 movement, but with a date wheel).

It is made of steel, but the price is as bold as a gold watch; in fact, at an asking price of 3,650 Swiss francs, you can actually buy a Jaguar. Surprisingly, as an irrefutable proof of the vision and tenacity of AP CEO Georges Golay, the brand ordered 1,000 steel cases for the Royal Oak Reference 5402 “A” series.