25854ST Audemars Piguet Offshore Perpetual Calendar

This is the most interesting variant of a not-very-currently-popular Royal Oak. Yes, it’s an Offshore. Yes, Genta would’ve hated it. While it might easily be mistaken for ‘The Beast’, it’s actually the very first Royal Oak Offshore QP. AP manufactured fewer than 50 of these, ref. 25854ST, in 1997. It debuted alongside the early 25865 Grand Comp in the classic Royal Oak shape, which had a split and minute repeater for good measure. If you’re reading closely, you’ll note that makes this 25854ST the very first Royal Oak PCC (Perpetual Calendar Chronograph). And that’s truly rather remarkable.

The late 1990s were the years where Le Brassus went a bit insane: sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The 25854 was an insane technical challenge. Look more closely at the 9 subdial and you’ll see three stacked hands (one is a disc) for leap indication, month, and chronograph minutes. It also maintained The Beast’s general 12-6-9 layout by adding one of the most unusual moonphase displays you’ll find anywhere. The dial construction is the same as we see in The Beast, which means some will turn tropical. They were liable to that, and we can see it beginning here in very small areas.

The monstrous proportions certainly prevent this from becoming the type of widely pined-for complicated RO that something like the ref. 5554 is. But it is extremely interesting and first for AP, which is not oft-discussed. Auction results doubled between Christies and Phillips have tended to center between 60-70K USD. Most listed recently are asking around 100k. There’s a disconnect there at the moment, but then with only 50 examples, or thereabouts, just two have gone to auction. It was a watch that neither Patek nor VC had a near-peer competitor for, for better or worse. The Offshore is just a bit too large for many, but, hey, the 90s are coming back if you speak with youths. The 25854 is probably the least-studied complicated Royal Oak, and while that may be for a reason it is an interesting part of AP’s long evolution of the model. It’s a watch you can’t look away from, partly because it is a captivating, rare model and partly because it has the mass and width of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This example has seen a light polish, and there's a tiny ding on the upper right flat portion of the lugs.  Nonetheless, it's pretty strong all considered. All lume is correct. It comes from a well-regarded London retailer with Certificate from AP but not Box.