AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK DAY DATE CREAM DIAL

A rare Audemars Piguet Royal with is rarely cream dial

Reference: 25572ST.OO.0789ST.01
Model: Royal Oak
Movement: Automatic cal.2224/2810
Complication: Date & weekday indication
Case Material: Steel
Dial: Cream Tapisserie dial
Bracelet: Stainless steel max length 183 mm
Diameter: 36 mm
Circa: 1984
Accessories: Manual / Presented box / Extract of archives / 2 spar links
Condition: Good preserved condition according to the age, with small sign of worn
Specificity: discontinued and collector

ID SWT: 77026103

Notes: The present example of an early Royal Oak Day Date reference 25572 in stainless steel with an attractive warm patina affecting both the original white background of the dial and the original silver tone of the outline of the counters

An early, charismatic and very rare stainless-steel day-date self-winding wristwatch of the famous Swiss watch brand Audemars Piguet, founded in 1875. Estimated production year: 1983. Case in stainless steel, diameter 36mm, 9mm thick, solid stainless steel caseback with Royal Oak emblem, and model serial number engraved. Cream patinated, so-called ‘Tropical’ dial with ‘Tapisserie’ pattern, small (so-called ‘flat’) Audemars Piguet logo, and ‘AP’ applied symbol at 12 o’clock. Self-winding caliber 2124/2810, rotor with heavy segment in 21k gold, power reserve of up to 40 hours. Functions – indication of time in hours and minutes, date sub-dial at 3 o’clock, and day of the week sub-dial at 9 o’clock. Royal Oak stainless-steel bracelet, the first-generation Royal Oak stainless steel double folding clasp.

Audemars Piguet introduced the reference 25572 in 1983. It has a double calendar function with the indication of the date on a sub-dial at 3 o’clock, and day of the week on a sub-dial at 9 o’clock. This configuration creates a clean and well-balanced dial structure, making it extremely appealing and appreciated amongst collectors. Due to the characteristic arrangement of the counters along the horizontal axis and the wide circular brushed outline of the sub-dials, collectors nickname this Royal Oak model ‘The Owl’. Please note a certain degree of similarity between the 25572 dial and the dial of the Royal Oak perpetual calendars, which retain the same position of the date and day counters. In a sense, reference 25572 seems to be a simplified version of the Royal Oak perpetual calendar, although, strictly speaking, this is not the case, as Royal Oak perpetual calendars use another base caliber and calendar module. In addition, reference 25572 is attractive to the collector because it is the first medium-sized 36mm Royal Oak to be fitted with an additional ‘small’ complication. Phillips reports the present reference remained in production until 1998, with a total of 1770 pieces made: 576 in stainless steel, 524 in 18k yellow gold, 654 in stainless steel and 18k yellow gold and 16 in 18k white gold. Caliber 2124/2810 of the present example is based on a caliber 889 movement-blank supplied by Jaeger-LeCoultre, long-term partner and supplier of Audemars Piguet, with the addition of a day-date calendar module.