Horological Meandering

amanico
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A Quick View on the Vintage Royal Oak jumbo

Maybe you remember that a few months ago, I bought this Royal Oak:





The bezel was certainly polished by Borat himself, the dial had an awesome patina, the hands too, but maybe let guess some problems with the water resistance of the watch.

The case and case back were in so so condition, and the bracelet was too loose.

So, I sent it to AP to see what they can do to restore it.

5 months after, the watch was back, with new old stock bracelet and dial, the hands were changed, as well as the bezel, and the case / case back polished.

The movement was totally serviced.

All I can do is that I'm really impressed by the quality of the work done by AP on my watch.

You may judge by yourself, with the pics I'll post.

So, I rediscovered the Royal Oak...

This is indeed a strange watch.

you all know the story, so I will make it short:

When in 1972, AP introduced the Royal Oak, they had in mind to release a luxury sport watch, which was a " Grande Premiere "...

PP did the same a bit later with the Nautilus ( in 1976 ).

Another common point between AP and PP is that the designer of this watch is the same: Gerald Genta.

When I came back home with my Royal Oak, this kinship between these 2 watches literally jumped to my eyes...

There is obviously an " air de famille "!



The Grey blue dial, the shape of the hands, the angular bezel, the whole philosophy of these 2 watches are all shared points, and it would have been closer if I had the 5711 for this comparison picture.

" Luxury Sport Watch " ... A perfect definition for this Royal Oak?

At this moment, in the 70ies, maybe, but nowadays?

Its precious look, its stunning thinness, the superb angular bezel, this very sober dial, and straight and narrow hands, the finish and design of the bracelet and of the case...All this may lead to you practice your favourite sport with?

IMO, no way!

I'd rather describe it as a very dressy casual watch.





The shape of the case and bezel are dynamic, indeed, and deeply contrasts with the simplicity, the sober elegance of the dial whose only distraction is the date, no second hand, which is, to me, a good thing aesthetically speaking.

This deep grey blue is a pure marvel:



Do you see the top of the " hobnail "?

It is alsmost brown, as the tritium indexes are.

My only regret is that the hands are luminova, but tritium hands don't exist anymore...

The " AP Logo is just above " 6 ", as it has to be on a vintage jumbo ( while, no the modern jumbo, it is at 12, instead of the 12 ) :



The " Audemars Piguet Automatic " writings are thinner on the Vintage, and the applied indexes are longer and thinner, too, compared to the Modern:



The Solid case back hides a very nice movement, the Cal 2121, which was in fact a JLC Cal 920 reworked by AP ( Thomas, please correct me if I'm wrong ), and it is quite a pity that this movement can't be seen, but maybe at this moment, people wasn't very interested in seeing it?

Here, the movement in Patrice's modern Royal Oak jumbo:



And here, the Vintage solid case back:



The brushed finish of the bracelet is echoing with the case, and the top of the bezel, the only polished parts being the sides of the bezel and of the case back:



Don't be mistaken by the previous pics I posted here, the very amazing thing, and maybe which gives it this sublime allure, is the thinness of the case:



The crown is aesthetically reaching the perfection.

Its size is in harmony with the case, not too big nor too small, and its shape is just the cherry on the cake, matching with the shape of the bezel.

The only reserve is about the comfort when winding the watch...A pain for the fingers, but it is the price ( or a tribute ) to pay to its beauty.

The whole watch is playing with light, or, better said, which loves to play with light, from the case to the dial...

It is indeed a real pleasure for the eyes.



Dynamic and simple, yet powerful and very classy, it is a very appealing watch.

Luxury?

Yes, without doubt, as you feel its quality, instantaneously.

Sporty?

That's maybe what you can think from the pics, but I can tell you that once you get it in your hands, or, better, once you try it on your wrist, you're ..;Surprised, by its thinness, by its comfort, by its extrem elegance, which is not really what you expect from a classic sporty watch.





The jumbo, IMO, has a perfect size, with its 39 mm.

It was conceived in this size, and to me, this is the ideal Royal Oak.

A Magic Watch.



Hope you will enjoy this hommage to this watch.

Best to All.

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-09-16 02:42:30 This message has been edited by MTF on 2009-09-17 19:05:40