Audemars Piguet turns to yellow gold for the new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
Audemars Piguet yellow gold
Audemars Piguet yellow gold: Luxury watchmaking giant Audemars Piguet reinvents the classic Royal Oak, and presents the enduring lustre of yellow gold back to the forefront in its latest release: The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
Launched in 1972, the Royal Oak was the first luxury watch to treat stainless steel, and meticulously craft, polish and decorate it like a precious metal. Using steel in such a manner was a risk, yet ultimately a game-changing triumph.
The revolution it launched opened a new and extremely creative chapter for Audemars Piguet, during which it explored traditional and unconventional materials in great depth: platinum, carbon, alacrite, bronze, rubber, ceramic, titanium, tantalum, to name a few.
Before the beginning of 2016, Audemars Piguet breaks the rules again by returning luxury watchmaking to its most elemental material, the universal emblem of indestructible beauty, energy and light: The yellow gold.
The new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar celebrates the timeless allure of yellow gold by combining it with the most classic and romantic complication. Part of the inspiration for this new edition is the first Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar (reference 5554, later renamed 25554), designed by Jacqueline Dimier in 1984. Of the 279 pieces in that original launch, 229 were sumptuously cased in yellow gold.
The remarkable latest edition comes in 18-carat yellow gold case withglare-proofed sapphire crystal and caseback and screw-locked crown, and is water-resistant to 20 metres.On the “Grande Tapisserie” decorated dials — a subtle pattern of three-dimensional squares— the traditional displays of a perpetual calendar timepiece are given pride of place: day, month and date are displayed at nine, noon and three o’clock.
Theblue dial appears with yellow gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating, blue inner bezel.
On one hand, the essential leap year indication, an Audemars Piguet innovation first introduced to wristwatch design in 1955, takes centre stage at noon.
An astronomical moon finds it place at six o’clock, and the week of the year is displayed on the dial’s outer chapter ring, adding yet another layer of time measurement.
Housed in the perpetual beauty of yellow gold, the self-winding watch’s new calibre 5134 is fully visible through the glareproof sapphire crystal caseback, but the warm, natural glow of precious gold has been brought fully to the fore.
Calibre 5134 is based on its predecessor, calibre 2120, however it has been enlarged to perfectly fit the updated 41mm case size. The movement features 374 components, 38 jewels and frequency balance of 19,800 vibrations per hour. Meanwhile, the timepiece boasts 40 hours of power reserve.
Audacious and visionary, the 2016 Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar leads luxury watchmaking back to the rarest, more cherished prize: yellow gold, as brilliant and warm as the sun. It finishes off its look with the 18-carat yellow gold bracelet with AP folding clasp.
