AUDEMARS PIGUET. AN EXTREMELY RARE 18K GOLD AUTOMATIC WRISTWATCH WITH DIAMOND-SET TAPISSERIE DIAL AND DATE

One of the greatest statement watches that money can buy, AP’s reference 5402 very rarely appears at auction being increasingly hard to obtain as one of the great classic ‘must-have’ watches for the serious collector. The solid 18K yellow gold version is almost never seen. The present watch, sold in 1979, is one of only a handful of publicly known examples that are fitted with the luxury tapisserie diamond index dial which was only available as a special request. The AP Certificate of Authenticity confirms the dial although the date of its fitting upon request of a previous owner is not documented.

When the original steel Royal Oak reference 5402 was launched, it was more expensive than any of the gold wristwatches offered by Audemars Piguet at the time. In 1977, AP introduced a new Royal Oak reference 5402BA in solid 18K yellow gold which offered customers a sports watch that maintained the robustness of the Royal Oak yet made in a luxury precious metal. The yellow gold reference 5402BA was only manufactured for around three years, being discontinued in 1980. This reference is therefore one of the most desirable and coveted of all first Royal Oak 'Jumbo' models.

The present watch, No. 460, is a crisp and highly attractive example of this early and super-rare reference with a special request highly exclusive diamond index dial. It gives collectors an opportunity to acquire one of the great 1970s Royal Oak classics during the 50th anniversary year of the Royal Oak model.