‘Flat Grey’ Dial 25820ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Where the Royal Oak market has been shuffling its feet for the last year or two, the Royal Oak QP seems like it might be having a moment. It was, in 1984, category making. Sporting watch, high complication. That’s taken for granted, but it truly had never been done. In fact, the early 80s, the dusk of the quartz crisis, saw incredible optimism and ambition run through Switzerland. There are quite a few variants, usually divided between pre and post leap year. But the one thing that unites them all is that a QP in the Royal Oak case just works. The 5548 was born to make the 5554.

But this isn’t either. It’s 25820ST, the first of the leap year indications and while some will argue it’s not as pleasing as a less busy 12 subdial, it is quite useful. Where pre leap year examples were usually flat dials, without tapisserie, 25820 was where we saw the tapisserie reintroduced. This example, though, has a still-flat grey dial, which you did still occasionally see. It’s the most vintage looking 25820 that exists which is no bad thing. The Royal Oak QP was a success by this time, a daring bet that had paid off, but the formula barely changed. Up until Bennahmias in 2012 with ref. 26574, the RO QP barely changed. During those golden years, it was the only object to be refined more slowly and more gracefully than a Porsche 911. That’s true right through the 628 examples made in this steel.

The Royal Oak is Audemars Piguet, there is no distinction today. And this is the best of the Royal Oak. Now, you could go back earlier and hunt a 5516 to find something more special, or hold out of a 5554. But, really, any Royal Oak QP from this time is the height of AP, full stop. Even if it hasn’t been communicated out in the open, everyone kind of understands that this was a really special time when Le Brassus led the way. It took decades for Patek and Vacheron to catch up in the same way with rival models. No Patek were leading a different charge in the PCC, but still. This was a watch ahead of its time. Today, it stands well outside of time, totally desirable particularly by contrast to anything the brand makes now.

This steel example looks pretty strong overall. The case may have seen a light touch, bu not much. The dial, thankfully, has none of the tarnishing around the subdial edges. Interestingly, and I don’t know why, you almost always see these flat grey dials with these indices that look tritium filled but aren’t. The hands are non-luminous as well. And that’s as it should be. This example comes from a well-regarded Genevan retailer.