A 34mm solid gold Audemars Piguet dress watch with wonderful calibre 2121 movement, as used in the Royal Oak a few years later. Model reference 5381B
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
We have found this exact watch in a sales catalogue from a prestigious auction held in Monaco, and in that catalogue they say the watch is from 1970, and the auction house thank Audemars Piguet from their help.
CONDITION
Many people associate Audemars Piguet with the Royal Oak model, but that classic was not launched until 1972. Before this everyone associated Audemars Piguet with high quality gold watches, such as this one. The movement is the 36 jewel calibre 2121 movement was launched in 1967, and is very thin for a full rotor automatic movement – not quite as thin as the Piaget 12PC1, but that is a microrotor. The movement is wonderfully finished, with Côtes de Genève striping beautifully applied. The edge of the rotor is tipped with 21k gold, just for extra mass to allow the rotor to be a tiny bit more efficient. The base of the movement is supplied by Jaeger-LeCoultre, and it is the only ebauche that is used by all of the big three – AP, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. You can be certain of the quality.
The dial is clean, as is the date wheel – the date can be adjusted via the semi quickset method. The case is very good too, with screw in case back helping keep everything clean. 34mm is slightly larger than most dress watches of the period, which helps today. The strap and buckle are new items and the buckle is gold plated rather than 18k as it would likely have been when new. The nearest new watch offered by AP that this watch could be compared is the £27,500 11.59. That is a significantly larger watch though.
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 36.1 mm
Width without crown 34.2 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 38.5 mm
Case Thickness 8.1 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.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
