Serenity Now... In Hand Review of the Audemars Piguet 15202 ST Jumbo Extra Thin Self Winding Royal Oak [Part 1]
petite tapisserie dial with white gold applied hour-markers
For folks who watched Seinfeld u'll get the reference but i wouldn't want u to picture a flustered George saying the words, rather take them as they are... Serenity now :)The AP 15202 [ Reference: 15202ST.OO.1240ST.01 ] is an exquisite timepiece to me. It transported me to the Vallee de Joux... A light morning mist and a still tranquil forest...
Images of Vallée de Joux © copyright Dan Holdsworth for Audemars Piguet
the pics taken by me are of a brand new piece for sale so it has it's stickers on... not my watch sadly :(
Click these links for my posts on their
- 40th Anniversary event and exhibition in Singapore LINK and
- initial thoughts on the 15400 vs the 15202 LINK
- and some pix on another 40th anniversary piece LINK
It wasn't an immediate success at launch however but over time it grew in popularity and in a way, it hid them away from the onslaught of cheap Japanese quartz watches much like the famed tree in which Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651 from whence the name came.
The name of that tree than borne on warships for Her Majesty's Royal Navy, the porthole's of which were said to inspire Genta's design in earlier marketing literature but it has been made known that Genta was inspired instead by an old fashioned dive helmet which was affixed by 8 screws to a dive suit which led to the creation of the Royal Oak design [Reference for this in Wei Koh's excellent article on his hunt and acquisition of a gold 5402 LINK and on AP site on Gerald Genta, a great watch designer and in a 2006 watchtime article].
The fact is that it was not only a groundbreaking piece because it was so expensive compared to a Submariner then (Sub at CHF280CHF vs Royal Oak weighing in at CHF3200 ~ equivalent to over US$10k now) but that it was an absolutely beautiful luxury timepiece and met its aim of being an unprecedented steel watch. A wonderful dial with the AP logo at 6 o'clock, great bracelet design and an octagonal bezel with hexagonal gold screws... there is good reason why this watch is an iconic, classic timepiece.
The nickname Jumbo has stuck to the Royal Oaks with the slim 2121 AP calibre movement in this configuration as it was jumbo at the time compared to their usual lineup. Similarly so for the Patek Philippe Nautilus Jumbo, now the 5711.
On this journey I've loved the Royal Oak Offshore loads in the past but that has passed and I'm at a stage now that this Royal Oak or The Royal Oak sings a powerful siren song to me... it feels amazing what this piece evoked in me when i took pictures of it. So many wonderful things coming together in its svelte profile that for a moment i forgot that i had a mortgage to pay and that i needed this watch...
39mm stainless steel case with white gold hexagonal screws... this dial hews closely to the original Royal Oak dial done by Gerald Genta. the change to the dial for this and the original 5402 jumbo is the dial text font of Audemars Piguet and the date wheel the same color as the dial instead of white
& yes it'll look good 10, 20, 50 years from now... out of the darkness...
Images of Vallée de Joux © copyright Dan Holdsworth for Audemars Piguet
into the light...
into the light...
Manual finishing of the bridges (polished bevels, satinbrushed edges,
Perlage on the recesses) Manual finishing on both bridges and mainplate
Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2121 ~ Extra-thin movement with an oscillating weight on an annular ring running on four jewels. Bidirectional winding. 40 hour power reserve and running at 2,75 Hz frequency (19,800 beats per hour)
alternate views...
Images of Vallée de Joux © copyright Dan Holdsworth for Audemars Piguet
the 21 carat gold rotor can be custom decorated upon customer's request
When you have time, watch this cool set of videos on the making of the Royal Oak LINK
After all of this post is read and the videos watched, set aside some cash [list is high S$20s (S$28.8k) but selling should be low 20s] and head down to your (watch)pusher of choice that carries Audemars Piguet and get yourself a Royal Oak 15202 ;) kidding. i know i want to...
a parting shot before Part 2... [LINK to Part 2]
6 comments:
Great post! Seems to be the ultimate modern AP. A timeless watch that will make the wearer happy for decades to come.
no argument on that :) cheers
There are more expensive ones, but this is possibly the most perfect AP ever made. And the most desirable one.
Great post, thanks. We're you able to negotiate any discount on your 15202?
Agreed FRED :) and sorry for not commenting earlier.
Thanks Jeff. Discounts are dependent on a variety of factors and is normally a personal thing you work out with your dealer and relationship(history and dealings etc) is a key thing in all of it. all said i had a little discount but won't go into details of course. cheers
Thanks for your reply! And I'm glad to hear you were able to work out a little discount. I've had no such luck so far on this specific model, when I can actually find one :-). Beautiful timepiece, and congrats on your purchase.
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