‘The Owl’ 25572BA Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Day Date

There is no Royal Oak more of the 80s and yet still attractive today than the 25572, known more commonly as ‘The Owl’. Not all Day Dates come in Oyster cases. Shortly after the 5402 graced the world with its presence, AP experimented with a few variations on the theme. Out of this early/mid 80s era came many of the iconic complicated Royal Oak offerings we revere today. However, the very first complicated offering to feature in AP’s midsized 36mm case was this ref. 25572 or 25594 with moonphase (also pictured). Unlike the jumbo case which debuted the perpetual calendar and chronograph offerings, the midsized approach was more modest. And it’s been gaining some serious momentum from those of us who adore the early years of complicated Royal Oak.

Both 25572 and 25594 were introduced in 1983. Of this non-moonphase 25572, 1770 examples were sold from 1983-1998 (AP keep amazing records). This reference represents the earlier productions characteristically, with a flat Audemars Piguet signature, unsigned crown, and lumeless Petite Tapisserie. The dial was executed in a warm cream tone, perfectly accenting the gold case and likely by Stern no less. The two oversized calendar counters which gave this reference its name have a tendency to oxidize over time and that process is only just beginning on this example. Interestingly, both lumed and non-lumed hands have been observed in this reference with no correlation to time of production. I personally adore the cylindrically polished non-luminous hands. The dot indices beside the subdials rock on either variant.

Perhaps more importantly, though, there’s nothing else like it. The Nautilus didn’t get a Day Date until 2010, but only as part of an Annual Calendar. The Overseas comes in retrograde date or all-out QP. Rolex’s Day-Date is an institution, but not integrated nor sporting. See what I mean? What’s the peer? In short, it doesn’t exist. There’s even a degree of practicality added by the automatic calibre 2224/2825 (JLC ébauche) with rapid-advance setting. When even your base-est 25554 QP is over 100K US, these offer a cleaner dial and double down on 80s feel. As a fabulous friend of Hairspring recently put it when texting me, ‘It looks like it belongs permanently in a 930 Targa Turbo in Miami.’

This is a beautiful example. Case is relatively sharp overall, probably a light polish but still very well defined. The dial is cream, original, and lovely. It comes from a well-regarded California retailer. The pictured 25594 is also available for sale currently at this same retailer.