Audemars Piguet made 362 examples of this ref. 25657 in pink gold between 1982 and 1993. Of those, just a handful are thought to be in the mother of pearl dial we have here. After researching heavily in order to write this, we've only been able to locate two other examples. This Quantième Perpétuel perfectly captures what we love about neo-vintage Audemars Piguet: classic proportions, complicated watchmaking, and rarer, little-known iterations. We very rarely see Audemars Piguet bearing stone dials of any kind. That this mother of pearl happens to be in one of the thinnest complicated watches ever made is simply exceptional, in the truest meaning of the word.
At launch in 1978, the Quantième Perpétuel was the thinnest perpetual calendar that had ever been made at 3.95mm. Its calibre 2120/2800 was developed in the throes of the quartz crisis in secret, by a team of three senior watchmakers (lead watchmaker Michel Rochat, founder of the technical department Daniel Golay, and head of service Wilfred Berney) who feared Audemars Piguet's budget would not allow for the development of complicated mechanical watchmaking and so formed their own skunkworks and worked after-hours in secret. It is a thoroughly reworked JLC 920 ébauche, with its own perpetual calendar works. The result revived not just Audemars Piguet's complications, but all of Switzerland. Calibre 2120/2800 changed the course of watchmaking history.
This ref. 25657 succeeded the original 25548, though there was overlap in production. It is distinguished by its 'sunken' subdials, though the core design remains that of the original from Jacqueline Dimier's pen. This 25657 differs from the standard dial in more than just material, with applied pink gold dot indices at 12, 3, and 9. Its 36mm case is refined and classic with a stepped bezel and downturned, unobtrusive lugs. In the mid 1980s Audemars Piguet made significant changes to the 25657's construction to increase moisture resistance by integrating the pushers into the case design more thoroughly. They sit flush as opposed to being extruded, as one can see this example is from after this switch. This latter case also features more blunt-edged lugs and a flatter bezel. The 25657 is a solid caseback, forgoing sapphire for solid pink gold with its own unique engraved case number. 25657 is also marginally thinner than the exhibition-back 25661 for its solid caseback.
This mother of pearl example is easily one of the most captivating examples of the 'holy trinity' post-quartz QPs we've ever seen. It is far rarer than even the skeletonized 25558 and 25668, considerably differentiated from its standard peer, and rewards a close examination. To the extent that modern AP has become the Royal Oak company, they do immense disservice to this legacy, one of the greatest in watchmaking. This watch led the charge for mechanical watchmaking’s return against the growing quartz shadow and sold to great success. The icing on the cake is that this one even includes its original VHS tape describing the watch with the rest of its set (minus outer box). This stone dial Quantième Perpétuel is amongst the very height in terms of collecting in these neo-vintage, 'holy trinity' QP references.
