Audemars Piguet

ThomasM
[PuristS]
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Jules Audemars Perpetual Calendar, ref. 26390OR

(mostly press release)

While the slender elegance of the ultra-thin profile of this watch is truly fascinating, it is even more surprising when one considers that such a slim case houses a movement capable of indicating the day, the date, the month, the moon phases and the leap-year cycle thanks to a mechanism barely 4 mm thick! This exceptional timepiece appears to have captured the sparkling magic of the stars.

In 1978, Audemars Piguet launched its first ultra-thin selfwinding perpetual calendar model. Very well received, it was one  of the first wristwatches that required long waiting lists and were actually trading in the secondary markets above the suggested retail price!  This was a particularly impressive feat when one considers that 1978 was 4 years before the "rebirth" of the high mechanical industry in 1982; at that time, the market was still reeling from the quartz devastation of the early 1970's...

In 2008, the watchmakers in Le Brassus paid tribute to this creation with a 30^th anniversary platinum limited edition. Today, the Perpetual Calendar selfwinding model is making its grand entrance into the Jules Audemars classic collection with an 18-carat pink gold case teamed with a choice of brown or silvered dial featuring a sunburst satin-brushed finish and refined pink gold hour-markers. The case has a particularly narrow bezel that highlights the dial and the indications in the various counters and considerably facilitates read-off. With these two interpretations, the reinvented classical elegance of the Jules Audemars collection welcomes a new must-have model.

How can a timepiece, merely by the meshing of its toothed wheels, levers and clicks, successfully indicate the day, the date, the month, the moon phases and the leap-year cycle? The perpetual calendar system is an admirable mechanical reproduction of our calendar. The irregularity of the 30 or 31-day months is controlled by a cam – which is itself connected to a wheel – on which the various lengths of the month are defined. The protruding sections around the circumference of the date wheel represent 31-day months, and the notches those of 30 days. On the same axis, a new wheel bearing a cam indicating standard months of February and a leap-year month of February performs one turn every four years and is thus able to keep accurate track of the leap-year cycle.

The brilliant perpetual calendar mechanism is teamed here with the legendary Calibre 2120.

The perpetual calendar mechanism is thus allied with an excellent base movement. The skill and mastery acquired by Audemars Piguet's watchmakers in the field of ultra-thin movements have enabled them to house the 355 parts of the Jules Audemars Perpetual Calendar within a tiny space just 4 mm thick.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Jules Audemars Perpetual Calendar

References

26390OR.OO.D093CR.01

Case in 18-carat pink gold, brown dial

26390OR.OO.D088CR.02

Case in 18-carat pink gold, silvered dial

Movement

Calibre : 2120/2802 ultra-thin selfwinding

Total diameter: 12^1/2 lignes (28.4 mm)

Casing diameter: 28 mm

Thickness: 4 mm

38 jewels

355 parts

Power reserve: up to 40 hours

Cadence of the balance: 19,800 vibrations per hour

Finishing: all parts decorated by hand; mainplate chamfered and circular-grained; bridges adorned with a Côtes de Genève motif

Case

18-carat pink gold

Diameter: 41 mm

Thickness: 9.15 mm

Water resistance: 20 metres

Sapphire crystal exhibition back

Dial

Brown or silvered with applied pink gold hour-markers

Pink gold hour and minute hands

Strap

Brown hand-sewn alligator leather with large square scales, 18-carat pink gold AP folding clasp

Functions

Hours and minutes

Day

Date

Month

Leap-year cycle indication

Moon phases