Audemars Piguet

Dino944
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Only you will know what is the right choice for you...

Hi Thurgood,

I have looked at the AP Royal Oaks for several years without pulling the trigger.  While they are pricier than most of the watches I've purchased in the past which has slowed me down a bit, I personally had a difficult time choosing what I truly wanted from the RO collection.  Although they are nice, I knew did not want an Offshore, I wanted something based on the original Royal Oak design.

What to focus on took me a while.  I considered the Royal Oak Dual Time, the Royal Oak Chronograph, and the Jumbo.  I did look at the 15300 and the 15400 and although nice, they are not for me.  I personally do not get all hung up on the inhouse movement idea.  Its something that I think as collectors in recent years many of us have become "Movement Snobs" myself included.  However, some great, collectible and rather valuable watches use movements from other makers.  All of the "Big Three" have used base movements/ebouches from outside sources, and IMHO that's not anything to be ashamed of as long as its a very high quality movement. 

To be honest for years one of my grail watches was a Rolex Daytona.  I obtained one with the Zenith base movement.  I think its not only prettier than the Rolex movement Daytonas, its rarer, maybe more collectible and certainly worth more.  I have a Rolex movement Daytona and its a great watch, simpler to service, longer power reserve, a bit easier to read the time in low light, but of the two, I still prefer the one with the Zenith base movement. 

I think the brand that I often had trouble seeing the value of is Panerai.  They are popular and good watches, but the base model used a Unitas movement found in a roughly $750 watch my friend had.  It just made the base model Panerais seem grossly overpriced watches that one bought just for a look.  I don't think that is true of any AP, VC, Breguet, Patek, etc.

Back to my Royal Oak sorting process.  My Wife hated the look of the dual time.  I thought it was quite functional and would give me a 2 timezone watch that would be dressier than my Explorer 2, but she nixed the idea.  Also I heard that without a quickset (which the VC Overseas version has, the RO Dual Time is a pain to set).  I kind of felt myself leaning toward the chronograph feeling its almost the same price as the Jumbo, and it does more than the Jumbo.  For me it took a while for the idea to set in that not every great watch has to have "toys" as my wife calls them.  So I started looking at the Jumbos.  I did look at the 15300 and its movement is lovely and a bargain, but for some reason I just was not in love with it even with an inhouse movement.  So back to the chronograph.  Great looking, but the screw down pushers are not as easy to unscrew and use as they are on  VC Overseas or Rolex Daytona.  I did go and look at the 15400 and it was nice, and I like its size and dial more than that of the 15300.  However, I prefer looking at the movement through the back of the 15300.  To me, the 15400 its quite evident that the movement was once in a smaller watch as the saphire glass on the back is about the same size as on the 15300 yet the metal trim surrounding it is wider.  It just bothered me.  I think I'd have preferred a solid back on the 15400.  On the chrono with the increase in case size and the fact that the movement fit in a 38mm Cartier and the 39mm RO chrono, perhaps it was best that AP gave it a solid back. 

For me if given the choice of the Chronograph or the 15400, I would choose the chronograph.  I just prefer its overall appearance and the fact that they closed the back so its not quite as evident that the movement just moved into a larger case.  In the end you have to choose whatever makes you smile. 

I finally, came to a conclusion about which RO is the one I truly want to own and I recently contacted my AD to ask him to put me on his list for a Jumbo.  Now I'll have to patiently wait.

Good luck on whatever model you choose.  There is no wrong answer, just one that will make you smile more.

Best regards,

Dino