Audemars Piguet

small-luxury-world
[Patek]
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15202 seems to be one ...

of the candidates with the most votes, even when it was not allways clear to me if the vote was for the "old" or the new one.

This is my reply:

A Royal Oak in RG with a tourbillon is for sure an impressive watch and one I could imagine on a CEO´s wrist on holiday.

Of course it is available in steel as well, but for some people it has to be in RG … for some occasions it looks even cooler in RG … for some …

Excursion :

Back in the 80´s a friend of our family visited us and on his wrist was simple YG Royal Oak. I was (only) a teenager, but to me it was an impressive watch. Still have the picture on my mind, even when his older daughter was very beautiful. Only have a picture of the watch left J. By the way he was a CEO, from one of the biggest banks in the world. So on some people’s wrist … it works very well.

The new movement was developed bei Giulio Papi for a 39mm case, but at the end the decision was to put it in a 41mm case. Just to make the look more balanced. It had to be perfect, in any detail, for Octavio Garcia (the watch designer).

But back to my question : Who is the (current) king in that royal family?

Royalty & Simplicity works very well together, for me. Therefore the king must be something simple, but sophisticated.

In the case of the Royal Oak it has to be in steel and should be slim.

The first point is easy to reach (today), but the second one is trickier.

One good choice could be the (original) 5402 and that case was 38.6mm/7.1mm.

Two matching points: steel & slim.

Perfect or at least good ones are very hard to find these days and from what I heard AP is out of stock for original bracelets - if one is needed. It still is one of the most beautiful/perfect watches, but even kings have to do “daily business” and therefore the 5402 can´t be the king anymore – from my point of view.

The Jubilee is very beautiful – especially with a salmon dial, but for me it can´t be the king for several reasons, e.g. AP logo at 12. Would not mind to get one for summer …

The (former) 15202 is a very strong competitor, but the AP logo is at 12 and I am not a big fan of the dates frame.

The case is 39.0mm/8.0mm. Still slim, but nonetheless  + 0.9mm compared to the 5402.

Then they introduced the 15300 with an in-house (developed & produced) movement.

It came with a new (thicker) bracelet solution, a seconds hand and the case was 39.0mm/9.4mm (+ 2.3mm).

Put my own money on that watch and thought I bought a keeper. To make it short, it is not with me anymore and the “thickness” was one of the reasons.

It is a very good watch, but for sure not the king.

The new 15400 is a (personal and for sure subjective) no go for me and not only because of the thickness. To me the design is just not balanced.

Last but not least there is the new 15202. The AP logo is above 6. The original movement is inside. There is no dates frame and the date fits perfect with the dial. The whole dial looks cleaner than the former 15202 and the dark blue is very nice.

The case is 39.0mm/8.1mm. It is 1mm thicker than the 5402 and 0.1mm thicker than the (former) 15202. The bracelet is closer to the one from the 15300. The rotor looks less sophisticated. Nonetheless it looks very beautiful.

So, who is my king?

Is thickness the key?

For a final judgment, I have to try the new 15202 on my wrist. If the bracelet feels good on my wrist, it could be my king with that wonderful dark blue dial ...

Quite a a lot people waitet for the introduction of the 40´s Anniversary version, impatiently. Will it fit to their (personal) product specifications?
Good news for everybody. Nobody has to wait until the 50´s Anniversary to get a drop dead gorgeous watch, with all that variations available

Royalty & Simplicity is probably one of the most difficult things to create.

Maybe that is one of the reasons why they are so adorable

Oliver

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