Salmon Dial 25661BC Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar

This is a salmon dial 25661BC, a unicorn amongst 36mm QP collecting. Audemars Piguet built reference 25661 from 1985 to 1994, and the factory ledgers put total output at 342 pieces: 244 in yellow gold, 37 in platinum, 32 in white gold, and 29 in pink gold. That makes the white gold 25661BC scarce inside a reference already dwarfed by its siblings. Interestingly, while there were several dial options, salmon was only made for white gold cases. Collector and auction house estimates place the figure between 5 and 15 depending on who’s guessing. Let’s call it 10, roughly, with many having been originally delivered to Italy. All land around the late C Series early D Series.

Photography for this Find comes via a prior sale by A Collected Man. Example in market from a private party on Chrono24. 

Salmon was one of several documented dial options for the 25661, alongside Tuscan (only ever made in platinum) and Breguet-numeral executions, and AP never published dial-level figures. The "32 pieces" attached to salmon 25661BC listings is the white gold case total across every dial, not a salmon census; the real figure is unverified but probably 10ish. Interestingly they could come with pink gold indices and hands or white gold, both exist as separate sequential production batches.

Mechanically the 25661 is the 25657: the 36mm case, the 3.95mm caliber 2120/2800 developed in secret by Michel Rochat, Jean-Daniel Golay, and Wilfred Berney during the quartz crisis, and the sunken subdials that separate both from the 5548. The change is the snap-on sapphire display back, introduced with this reference. Interestingly, platinum examples received decoration throughout the caliber; other metals were finished on the rotor. More than that, the 25661 is known for its rare and interesting dials which exploded in variation with this reference.

For comparison, there are roughly ten mother of pearl in BC known. Roughly 8 in Tuscan that are all PT. One of these three is the summit of non-skeletonized 36mm AP QP collecting. Which is personal. But all are wondrous in their own merits.

Now, one note of caution: this example is coming via a private party on Chrono24, listed with some phone pictures. There are many pitfalls. These dial have been moved around—and confirming paperwork becomes more of a need to have than a nice to have. This dial is at least an early small caps signature which indicates good things. Also worth noting in the phone pictures there's a thing between 10 and 11 that appears to be just a shadow from a crystal imperfection, which is no big deal—but if it is on the dial that's an issue. Also the caseback isn't shown which doesn't give me the warm fuzzies but it could just be a not wanting to show serial thing, which is fair. So, there are many things to check (and the ask is steep) but then, as they say, find another? If correct and all kosher, it's an insanely great watch to be randomly listed on Chrono24 from an anonymous seller.