Audemars Piguet

The Perpetual Calendar complication was introduced to the Royal Oak line in 1983 with the Reference 5554. Combining a high complication with a sports watch was a somewhat daring move. Indeed, Patek Philippe will not attempt this with the Nautilus line for many more years.

The present lot, a Quantième Perpétuel ref. 25829TR takes this experiment to new extremes. The TR in the reference describes the case metal, a bimetal combination of Tantalum and 18k pink gold. Tantalum is an expensive material ordinarily used in the aeronautical and medical industries characterized by its hardness, high resistance to corrosion and wear but also by its extreme difficulty to machine and tool. The majority of the watch - the mid-case and larger links - are made out of dark grey tantalum contrasting elegantly with its yellow gold bezel, crown and center links. The bracelet features a steel clasp. Upon closer inspection, the stamps of the famed bracelet maker, Gay Freres is present. Gay Freres produced not only the bracelets for early Royal Oaks but also early Oyster bracelets for Rolex as well as bracelets for a variety of vintage Patek Philippe wristwatches. 

As confirmed by Audemars Piguet, the skeletonized Quantième Perpétuel Royal Oaks were made in a handful of configurations including the present tantalum and yellow gold, tantalum and pink gold and platinum and pink gold. Audemars Piguet has also confirmed that all were produced in a limited edition of 16 pieces only per combination.