Audemars Piguet

Some thoughts on three AP models

 

During a recent visit to a boutique of the brand, I've been able to try on three Audemars Piguet models.

I must say they look much better in real life than on photos, but I'm still not fond of them and preferred the previous dials, especially the ones with a fumé finish. I personally prefer almost everything about them (the date at 4:30, the thin "needle" hands and the cleaner minutes track), except the font of the numerals, which I don't really like:



(👆🏼 Bolshoi Limited Edition Ref. 15210BC.OO.A321CR.99 - credit: Sjx)


Nevertheless, this steel version with a grey dial framed by a deep blue inner bezel is really good-looking and attractive. I've always liked the complex case and crystal of the Code 11.59 and this iteration does it justice.







Finally, another aspect of this model which I find great and which makes it an interesting value proposition, imo, is that its caliber 4302 is well sized for the case and that the rotor, which has incredibly sharp interior angles, lets you see as much of the movement as possible:







I liked the previous rotor with the coats of arms of the Audemars and Piguet families, but it was much more obtrusive:



(👆🏼Burgundy model, ref. 15210BC.OO.A500KB.01 - credit: k2luxury)


(credit: AP)




As I said to the sales manager that I personally preferred the "31-1" of the previous date subdial layout to the new "7-8" , I was explained that this combination was chosen because 8 is a number which can look the same whether reversed or not.





Nevertheless, I didn't really feel attracted to this model because I had in mind the previous one, ref. 26394OR.OO.D027KB.01, with its aventurine dial, which I tried on in 2021 and which left a much stronger impression on me:







All the more so since the caliber looked a bit small for the case. It was indeed very striking for me to see that the "simple" model has a better sized caliber for a similar 41 mm case (caliber 4302, shown above, is 32 mm, whereas caliber 7138 is only 29.6 mm):












And I think that the new cleaner dial, without "AP" at 12 o'clock and "Automatic" at 6 o'clock and with a new seconds hand counterweight looks globally better than the dial of the previous model, ref. 15450ST.OO.1256ST.02:👇🏼