What a night! (Long review of new arrival with lots of pictures)

[mlcor]

So, a while ago on the “drooling” thread, I posted a picture of a watch that I had instantly fallen in love with when I saw a picture of one for sale at my favorite local dealer. By the time I called to ask about it, it had been sold, but it continued to prey on my mind and I did my usual stalking and research.

My final collecting goal is to own one each of the big three—Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. I have the VC, as you all know. For a while, I thought I would get a silver dialed Royal Oak; however, a month or so ago, I tried one on, and for several reasons, decided it wasn’t for me. (As Geoff breathes a sigh of relief. )

But the watch I had fallen in love with was an Audemars Piguet, too, and would tick the "AP" box. So I called my contact at the dealer, and he was able to source one, brand new, for me to look at—no pressure, if I didn’t like it in real life, no problem. Huge advantage to having a relationship, especially since this model is no longer in production. Well, we got together last night, and that was that. It’s absolutely beautiful, the price was as good as the best gray market (a large discount off list). A dressy chrono had been on the want list, and this should take care of that permanently. So, without further adieu, here is the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Chronograph:





As you can see, it is a stylistic tribute to the 1920’s-30’s, but a modern interpretation, introduced in 2009. It’s a perfect size for me, 41mm, but wears a bit smaller IMO due to the style. It is reasonably thin for a chrono at 12.6mm, and part of that height is the slightly domed crystal, so it slips comfortably under a shirt cuff (a must for me). A 30 minute dial is on the left, running seconds on the right. The hands are all black, except for the seconds, which is gold. There is a tachymeter scale, plus a minute track, and red numbers every five seconds that add a bit of color to the dial, which I love. I also love the vintage style Arabic numbers, which are slightly raised on the beautiful white lacquer dial. The only writing on the dial is the company name, the word Automatic, and the Swiss Made stamp (not counting the tachymeter scale). There’s a fair amount going on, but I don’t find it too busy, especially since there’s no date.



Both subdials have guilloché work so fine, I can barely capture it with crops from my iPhone.





To be continued in the next post...

[is that my watch]

very nice indeed

[Imitation of Life]

Oh, yeah! I've seen that piece in person. Gorgeous watch!

[mlcor]

The case is another thing I absolutely love. The bezel and tops of the lugs are polished, as are the case back and the bottoms of the lugs (rose gold, obviously), but the sides are not, as you can see. I really like the contrast this creates in color and texture, and it makes the watch a lot less blingy than it would be if the whole thing were polished—I think it’s very classy.



The movement is the AP 3124/3841. This is the in house base movement 3120, used in the Royal Oak series, but without the date. The 3841 refers to the Dubois Dépraz chronograph module used in all Royal Oak chronos. It’s a modern, 21,600 vph movement with a bi-directional rotor, 59 jewels (!), and a 60 hour power reserve. There is an excellent technical analysis of the movement here http://www.p178host.com/apgallery/3120/ if folks are interested in the details. The rotor is 22 carat gold, and the finishing of the rotor and the movement generally has to be seen to be believed. My poor iPhone can’t do it justice at all.





The watch abounds with little details—the lug shapes are beautifully graceful, the chrono buttons have gorgeous fluted surrounds that echo the knurling of the crown (they are not screw in, although they kind of look like it). The deployant is very cool—note how the entire thing on each piece is the AP logo! Also note how the main chrono hand and the 30 minute chrono hand are the same style.



One more post to come...

[mlcor]

In this price range, the fit and finish are ridiculously good, as they should be. But until you actually hold a piece like this, it’s hard to truly understand and appreciate the amount of labor and love that must go into its creation.

Obviously, I am over the moon. I had thought a silver colored dress watch was going to be next in line, but once I saw this one in person, given the great price and the fact that it’s no longer in production, I had to move on it. The dress watches I’m thinking about are all still in production, and will be for some time, so this took priority. But that’s definitely it for this year (other than the Lew & Huey Phantom on pre-order). Hope you liked the pictures.

[FuzzyB]

Wow! Well done. That is a beauty.

[Martin]

Wow, breathtaking!

[germy]

Beautiful, awesome! Very informative review, wear it in good health!

Sexy photos too

[meijlinder]

That is a stunning watch. As you say a lot going on but still not cluttered. Love the clasp. Nice detail. Looking forward to pics with proper camera.

[mlcor]

That is a stunning watch. As you say a lot going on but still not cluttered. Love the clasp. Nice detail. Looking forward to pics with proper camera.

Sadly, I do not have a proper camera.