By Jovan Krstevski
Agree with me or not but we all know that this decade is all about the prestige of stainless steel. It is now considered as a precious metal or so it seems as long as the movement sports priceless gems and jewels. Well as for Audemars Piguet who in 1972 changed the course of the game for stainless steel watches when they introduced the successful Royal Oak sports luxury watch, they are pretty much using the same strategy to bring back interest with yellow gold watches in the form of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Yellow Gold. Before you say that it is boring well think about it this way, yellow gold still brings fascinating ambience especially if you like a more colorful presence.
Okay so enough with my rumblings and let us just go down to business. The 41 mm case looks rather massive when paired with a pattern of three-dimensional squares which pretty much frames the Grande Tapisserie decorated dial. But before we arrive to that, the bezel deserves much attention for its smooth corners. The 8 screws on the bezel effectively removes the boring connotations of yellow gold which is rather showy at least in my honest opinion. For now I am sure that this design makes a lot of sense for people wanting a better luxury exclusive timepiece with a bit of radical accents which in this case is reflected through the screwed bezel and subtle lugs and crown. Do not get me wrong but the bracelet made of heavy 18-carat yellow gold brings a remarkable prestige to this timepiece.
The blue dial is the perfect background for yellow gold in my humble opinion of course. If a silver dial is used it kind of brings dull contrast since we are supposed to see yellow gold and do away with lighter colors. However, if blue is used against yellow gold, it simply invites more focus on the dial which is what we want. The complications are also done nicely and harmoniously to say the least. The perpetual calendar indications include the day, month, leap year, date, astronomical moon and the week indication at the outer chapter ring. The applied hour markers with luminescent accents simply create perfect contrasts against the hue of the blue dial while the classic Royal Oak hands bring in more traditional touches to the timepiece.
The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Yellow Gold is powered by the self-winding new calibre 5134 that beats at 19,800 vph or 2.75 Hz. At this grade which is typical for complicated watches, power reserve is pegged at 40 to 50 hours which is astounding considering the complications mentioned. We can see part of the beautiful movement through the sapphire crystal caseback sporting the brand’s classic signatures. Note that this Swiss made luxury timepiece also comes in a luxury box that also ships with a watch rewinding mechanism. The introductory price for the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Yellow Gold is around Euro 95,900.
For more info, please visit audemarspiguet.com
JOVAN KRSTEVSKI – FOUNDER, PROPRIETOR & EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Watch collector, aficionado and an Event profile in the Swedish nightlife. He launched Watchgeek back in 2011, which is now known as WristReview and is one of the most widely read watch blogs on the Web. He quotes ’WristReview is a site to help people find, explore, discover and enjoy wristwatches.’ His passion jump started in his early teens when he was given his first mid-range wristwatch which was an Omega Seamaster. Since then he has always been in love with wristwatches! Besides WristReview, he also writes for a number of publications. Read his articles here
