One of the thinnest watches every made, built by one of the best manufacturers Audemars Piguet. Model reference 15018
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Audemars Piguet watches can be tricky to date, as concrete information is difficult to come by. You can take them to an Authorised Dealer, pay lots of money, and they will give you an extract from the archives – but the nearest AD to us is over 100 miles away. However, some detective work tells us that the first 2003 caliber movement was produced in 1953 with the serial number 60,000. We also have the official book from AP that has a similar cased watch to this, with the same 2003 calibre but movement number nearly 88,000 that is stated to be from 1963. The serial number on our watch is almost exactly half way between these two known watches, so we have picked a year half way between these known dates too.
CONDITION
The case is milled from a billet of 18k white gold, signified by the Swiss Helvetia hallmark and 0.750 stamped on the inside of the case back. The case back has an extra design to protect the crown and stem that you don’t normally see, but ultrathin watches like this cannot also be rugged so that extra support has helped keep everything straight and true. The case back does have a few tool marks on it, and the glass has a tiny nibble near 11. The 17 jewel calibre 2003 movement was a joint venture between Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet but JLC never used it and VC were not allowed to use it for the first two year, as AP held the rights for that time period. It was used until 2002, so it is proven both reliable and durable, which for a movement at just 1.64 mm thick is incredible. The dial is good, as are the hands, and the quality black leather strap is new. We have shown the watch on a tan leather strap too, just to show how much the strap can change the appearance – black is formal, brown more casual. This was designed as a men’s watch, but we have also taken a photo on a ladies wrist to help demonstrate the size is more unisex now.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 27.6 mm
Width without crown 27.2 mm
Between lugs 17 mm
Lug to lug length 29.2 mm
Case Thickness 3.8 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
