jmpTT
858
The customer is always right...
From my perspective, the Millenary 4101 is the first offering in the Millenary series that is both visually-compelling and affordable to certain degree. Personally, the 4101's appeal would have been even stronger if the time dial had been made perfectly round (although the presence of a perfectly-round sub-seconds dial really helps). The most attractive watch in the Millenary series, the No. 5 with the AP Escapement has perfectly round dials and subdials - I believe AP would have a hit on their hands if they sold a proletarianized version of this watch, even if the blued dial accents added another $10k to the MRSP.
As for other watches in the AP collection, well there are little issues here and there that limit their appeal. Given a set price point, it seems like sports watches can get away with using slightly less impressive movements. Some people will scoff at the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph employing a modular chronograph, but, by and large, most people don't care because the sports watch design can point to its substantial case and the iconic design. The same movement in the Jules Audemars Chronograph makes that beautiful watch a lot less desirable than other $30,000 dress chronographs from competing brands like Lange and (more specifically) Vacheron Constantin. The same dial finish on a time-only watch would have no such movement faux pas issues, but I'm not sure if the theme would carry over well to a simpler design.
In general though, the most striking designs outside the Royal Oak collection occur in watches that are priced above the mythical 100k USD price point (with the exception noted above where the movement is out-of-touch with current expectations). The amazing blue numbers and great dial textures from the Jules Audemars jumping hour minute repeater come to mind. Imagine such dial work on a limited edition ultra-thin time-only watch. It's not unrealistic to think it would garner positive attention because Vacheron has done ok with their premium-priced platinum dial collection.
