Audemars Piguet

Semper Fidelis
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NOT fashionably retro, but gracefully aged...

My rectangular AP Royal Oak Ref. 6005ST from 1977 was a rare and lucky find earlier this year, clearly forgotten by most and hence not much talked about - but not without its charm and merits trying to diversify a design that was set to become a beacon of the steel sports watch.
There were only a handful of rectangular versions of the Royal Oak line, all produced between 1977-1985, many of them in the then-fashionable bi-color steel/gold, but all of them equipped with different Quartz movements...
While the octagonal 5402 was diversified into several lines making it either more sporty, more complicated or somehow more sophisticated, all of the rectangular versions show a distinctive elegant signature, being very slim and rather dressy.

A few interesting aspects of this first generation AP Quartz Calibre 2511, produced 1977-1980:
- high energy requirements of the movement
- after the ban of mercury-based batteries for ecological reasons, the electrical capacity has been halved and modern batteries' lifespan won't exceed 12months operation (they say)
- pulling out and turning the crown only operates the hour hand; in order to move the minutes, a toothpick has to be used to press an inverted button hidden in the center of the crown, essentially electrically moving the minute hand forward, synced with the hour hands!
- no date (meaning: beautiful!)

A few months after dropping this piece off at the seemingly surprised AP Service Centre here in Singapore, I received it back last week - it went through a thorough refurbishing in LeBrassus. And it was well worth their efforts, in my humble opinion... Thank you very much AP SC!
Hope you enjoy the photos!

Semper Fidelis

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