Salmon Dial 25661BC Audemars Piguet Quantième Perpétual

Some watches just seem to burrow into your soul. This is the epitome of that paradigm. It’s a ref. 25661 in white gold with what AP call a rosé dial, salmon to us plebeians. Just 32 examples of 25661 were made in white gold, they’re hard enough to find as is. But with this dial, who truly knows. One of let’s say a handful or fewer. I particularly enjoy that this dial is very lightly matte, where most earlier salmon dials we see from AP have a perfectly smooth near-gloss finish. And it sports the early block font signature, an ultimate dress QP if ever there were one.

The 25661 introduced the QP to a display back, which I’d consider a worthwhile addition to its decorated calibre 2120/2. This is the 90s neo-vintage continuation of the watch that spelled the end of the quartz crisis for Japan in the 80s, the 5548. If you don’t know the story of Michel Rochat, Daniel Golay, and Wilfred Berney developing an ultra-thin perpetual calendar movement in secret because they feared AP execs wouldn’t allow spending on R&D, taking it on themselves, then you have some evening reading to look forward to. But this feels more like a victory lap, taking the 5548’s basic recipe and elevating the details.

And the details surprise. You’ll note the dial furniture is not white gold to match the case, but 18k rose gold in order to bring out the depth of the salmon tone. That’s a very considered decision that works incredibly well here. Its rotor is highly decorated, with comparable finishing on plates beneath. Oh and the rotor rail? It’s beryllium. Hard and low friction, I love when more exotic materials find their way into watchmaking. Mostly though, it’s really neo at its height. One could collect for a decade and not have an opportunity to acquire something this exquisite. Here’s the shot.

This example is lightly worn, in excellent overall condition. The case has light hairlines, that’s about it. It comes with an extract from a well-regarded London retailer.