For my 5000th post, I'd like to share a few pics of my new yellow gold AP Royal Oak 15300.  I received this watch as a Christmas gift in December and it's been sharing wrist time between this and my favorite AP Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Skeleton.  I've been traveling quite a bit over the past few months and have taken the 15300 with me and will share a few more travel pics in another post but for now here's a few static pics along with my initial impressions.

The 15300 was first introduced at the 2005 SIHH and released with the in-house calibre 3120 automatic movement.  I still remember reading about the watch since there were a lot of questions about differences when compared to the legendary 15202.  And to tell you the truth it was the first article that I read on ThePuristS website when I was researching the 15300 before purchasing one a few years ago.  After seeing both side by side there was a clear difference between the two with the 15202 feeling more like a dress watch due to the thinness and tapering of the bracelet versus the newer 15300 with a thicker and heavier feel.

To me the 39mm diameter of the Royal Oak is the perfect size.  It is slightly thicker than my perpetual and makes the 15300 a more masculine and sporty watch.  The yellow gold also adds the hefty and solid feel and seems just as balanced like my other gold Royal Oak perpetual calendar. 








Like all Royal Oaks, the bezel, dial and case have alternating polished and brushed finishes applied.  Eight polished white gold bolts secure the bezel to the case.

On the dial side of the Royal Oak I normally prefer a dark colored dial however on this one I really like having the white dial with the tapisserie pattern. A large AP logo is seen at the 12 o'clock position and faceted gold hour markers are placed along the dial.  Each hour marker has luminous material applied.  The hour and minute hands are also luminous.
Another feature of the 15300 is the sweep seconds hand.  Overall it reminds me of my matching AP Royal Oak brass wall clock that I received as a house warming gift a few years ago.

At first I wasn't so sure about the crocodile strap.  In the past on my Royal Oak dual time I had checked out a similar yellow gold version with a strap and at my AD I didn't feel that the crocodile strap would flex enough and conform to my small wrist.  The stiffness of the two plots and the rigid leading edge of the strap made it stick out too much when I tried it.  But this watch has sentimental value for me so I decided to give it a shot and wear it as-is for a few months and then figure out if I should get a yellow gold bracelet for it later on.

When I received the watch it was already changed out to a short AP crocodile strap which fit much better than I expected.  Over the past few months the strap has softened up and conformed a lot better on my wrist.  I like it so much now that I'm going to keep it on the crocodile strap.

The calibre 3120 automatic movement has a 22k gold solid rotor with engraving patterns.  The movement has a diameter of 26.60mm and a thinness of 4.25mm with a 60 hour power reserve.  In my opinion, it displays nicely when viewed with the transparent case back.


My 15300 is paired with a yellow gold folding clasp with the AP logo.  I've always preferred folding clasps over tang buckles and this one is very comfortable and secure.

During a recent trip to Vegas, I stopped by one of the AD's on the strip and compared it to the newer and larger diameter 15400.  The proportions on the 15400 didn't look nearly as good to me as my 15300.  Again, I prefer the 39mm size and  I'm very happy to get my yellow gold Royal Oak 15300 since it has been recently discontinued from the 2013 Royal Oak collection.




Thanks for reading my post on my new AP.

Regards,
ED-209