Tiffany-signed ‘Owl’ 25572ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Day Date

I’m calling it now; this is the sickest Royal Oak I’ve stumbled across this year. Not only is it one of my favorite iterations, ‘The Owl’, a dual-register Day Date. Not only is it a cream dial, beautifully ageing over time. It’s Tiffany-signed. Any one of these bullet points is enough to get me to buy a watch outright after three pours of scotch and a bad day. Seeing them altogether is a bit like the Avengers assemble moment of AP; I don’t know if I’m necessarily the right person to enjoy it as a cynical old soul, but I feel emotionally moved all the same.

The very first complicated offering to feature in AP’s midsized 36mm case was this ref. 25572 Day Date. Many have not seen or heard of this reference in 36mm, as it was produced for only a few years and discontinued . . .or at least those not reading here, as I’m a bit of a fan and have written on one or two. A huge part of the charm of this reference are in equal parts the lack of hype and extreme specificity. Everyone will know and recognize the Rolex Day-Date approach. Even many seasoned AP people will not be certain just what this dial is doing in a 36mm case. Moreover, there is the degree of practicality added by the automatic calibre 2224/2825 (JLC derived) with rapid-advance setting and usefulness of the Day-Date itself.

But then there’s the sort of tropicalization that has happened to this dial, originally white. Cream dials are highly collectible in Explorers and Daytonas, but when the effect presents in a Royal Oak case most don’t even note it. This is one of the deeper I’ve come across. And to round it out, a sale through Tiffany US in 1984, with signature on dial. Moreover, that Tiffany signature is actually vertically taller than the Audemars Piguet line. I can’t imagine anyone green-lighting that these days. Quite the proud marker in nuanced Royal Oak history.

The condition presents just as strong as the rest of this thing. The case is full. The dial has no damage. Its bracelet, only light wear. Worth noting that there’s a tiny bit of degradation on the second F of Tiffany but that’s really splitting hairs. It comes from a well-regarded Shanghai retailer.

Find this Tiffany 25572ST here from Woohoo Time for 47200 USD.