Audemars Piguet

ThomasM
[PuristS]
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Very nice piece! Congratulations! Curious...

Dear Marco,

Great watch, there are many many fans of the original Royal Oak, and in fact, as you know, some specialist collector interest in the original dial with AP logo over 6.

The question of production dates, numbers produced, and case numbers is a perennial one (like the mythological "cal. 2122" with seconds hand - THERE ARE NO cal. 2120 based movements with seconds hands, center or sub...)

Like many things in the world of high horology historical trivia, there are many versions of "history" and some conflicting ones even originate from within the same company...

As I understand it, the first Royal Oak series introduced in 1972 (shipped 1973) was a series of 1000 (undeclared limited edition) with no leading alpha letter case number.  It got off to a slightly slow start  order wise (it was immediately a newsmaker for the audacity to use stainless as a high end model, finished to "high horology standards" - past uses of stainless by high horology brands were originally positioned as lower end or "less precious" models...) but quickly took off thereafter, led by the Italian market.

Demand remained so strong that the decision was made to not limit the model range to the 1000 piece run and thus the ref. 5402 A series, B series, C series was born. This also started the leading alpha letter protocol that continues to this day (currently G series, soon to be H if the protocol continues...)

Above "understanding" based on specific interest in AP since 1978 (thus I cannot personally claim knowledge of information and facts in 1972-1978) and of course close interaction with AP since then over the following 31, soon to be 32, years.

The interesting part is, I have heard about a C series that was originally sold in 1977, supposedly backed by original retail receipt, which given the above, assuming it is correct, would be impossible.

For the above to be true and correct, and a true and correct C series to be originally sold in 1977, the only plausible explanation would be that, once the original 1000 non-letter pieces were ordered, AP decided at once to produce A, B, and C series cases all at once. This, though possible and makes rational sense, seems strange as the 1970's were not the best time macro-economically and certainly not for the watch industry, which was going through the throes of the almost killing quartz devastation. Thus, it would be hard to imagine that Mr. Golay would approve the contextually crazy idea to make A, B, and C series cases all at one go.

I also have asked AP LB about a C series I owned with AP logo at 6; the answer was that

a. it was produced in early 1980's

b. it should not have the original AP above 6 dial, as by then, the dial design was changed to the new one with AP logo at 12, but production during that period was mixed and transitional, so it MIGHT be an original dial in that case and movement...

As I am always interested in historical accuracy, I would be very interested in any further specifics, including documentation, if you have any, to support your statement "The Royal Oak ref. 5402 starting with "A" series printed on the back with AP at 6 hour and a Guy Freres bracelet (1/72) and after 1500-2000 examples they produced "B" series"

Of course my request is not a challenge, I am merely interested in historical accuracy.

Did you mean the ref. 5402 started with the A series, or that all Royal Oaks started with the A series? (it wasn't clear from your overall post wording)

where did you hear about the 1500-2000 production quantity? does this apply to A series only or all pre-B series?

the Guy Freres deployant blade stamping is very interesting, and rather rare. Not sure I understand the "(1/72)"  notation in your post? Did you mean it was made in Jan 1972? or was that part of the stamping? something else?

Thanks for sharing this great specimen, and looking forward to further engagement on this very interesting topic.

TM