25810OR Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 120th Anniversary

In 1995, Audemars Piguet turned 120. AP looked into their catalogue, deciding the most prestigious and representative piece they could use to celebrate the occasion. This is the ref. 25810OR, a 120-example run of the RO QP. It’s like a 25686, only pink on pink, with a week pointer, and one of the world’s best rotors. The was the first time the week indicator had been applied to the Royal Oak, not a terribly useful but quite interesting addition to the perpetual calendars we know and love. That’s right, it’s not a date. And, even more importantly, it was the first Royal Oak QP ever to have leap year indication.

The photography for the first these images of this find are courtesy of a prior Phillips example, a previously sold 25810OR in similar condition to the example we are featuring in the market now. 

The 25810OR is truly rarely seen. It’s easy to look back with rose tinted glasses, however the leap year makes the Royal Oak QP infinitely more usable. And while that’s all great, but this one appeals for the beauty. Arguably equally to its pre-indication peers. The subdials are radially grained where the dial is lightly vertically brushed. Pink on pink is, and has historically remained, one of the most special classic Swiss aesthetics regardless of manufacture. And then there’s the subdial which, while a bit controversial, does certainly mark the occasion clearly.

The values of these things, though, are wild. The 25820OR that came out right after this would normally be around 180K USD. But the 25810 has been a 250K USD piece or above for as long as I can remember. They don’t really tend to move around much in value either. 220K during the lows, 280K during the highs. That’s as solid as it gets. Sure there are more valuable and desirable RO QPs, but the pink on pink of the 120^thanniversary . . .well, I’m not sure it can be beaten.

This is a killer example. Click through the link below to see, but the edges are sharp and its dial shows no signs of damage. It comes without its set from a well-regarded Genevan retailer.