Audemars Piguet

this post is couple of days late, due to some work commitments.

The AP ROO Triple Date was launched circa 1996, and lasted for a few years before discontinued. Using a legacy Jaeger LeCoutre derived caliber 2127/2817, pretty robust and time tested, with 38 hour power reserve, automatic bi-directional rotor winding. This example has a D series, which indicated 1987-1994 production times, but given that the Triple Date arrived in 1996, its more likely a E series. Dial wise, my example is beautiful, the crisp grand tapisserie guilloche dial, date indicated by longish arrow head hands, hours and minute via lume filled white gold paddle style hands. AP logo affixed at 12, the way i like it. this version is rather special edition, made in 97 pieces, to commemorate the 1997 Hong Kong Handover from the British to Mainland China rule. Note the month indicator in red, and also day and month in chinese characters.

I always wear this watch on the 1 July of every year, to commemorate the momentous Handover. a rare event, some not seen in ones lifetime. Imagine a peaceful power transition for 6.5m people!!!!! On a personal note, I was a fresh graduate in 1997, and was visiting Hong Kong once a month for work(I reside in Singapore). When in university in UK, I befriended many Hong Kong students, some which remains good friends 20 years on. I remember many conversations, even arguments, on this momentous event and how emotional everyone was during the final act. The mixed package of emotions, from fear to hope, from gloom to elation, from ambivalence to excitement.........all gearing up for the big party on 30 Jun 1997. and if you are old enough to remember, back in 1997, it was the start of the Asian Financial crisis.....doom and gloom from Seoul to Jakarta. China pumped in massive liquidity into Hong Kong, and was at least partly to thank for, when Hong Kong emerged from the Crisis sooner then most. Sometimes I look at in the last two years, and wonder if these students protesting on the streets of Hong Kong realize how lucky they were, many of them born post Handover 97. Then again, the China in 2017 is vastly different then China in 1997. Case in point, Hong Kong of the overall China GDP wallet was 17% in 1997, and by 2017, it is less then 3%. Hong Kong GDP per capita went from USD27k in 1997 to now USD43k, you can only imagine the massive economic improvement on the Mainland over the same period!!! Why all these economic and politic talk? Because its the emotion and thought process evoked whenever I wear this watch. On a lighter note, it was also around 1997 that I discovered CantoPop and the legendary 80s Hong Kong band Beyond(yes...10 years late) and singers like Jacky Cheung and Sammi Cheng. 

thanks for reading, and best regards,

Horo

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