Audemars Piguet

I found the exhibit quite interesting.  There were a few artsy components that had nothing to do with watchmaking, but the main event was clearly the celebration of the Royal Oak's 40th birthday.  As evidenced by the great photos taken by FlyPenFly, they had many RO and ROO watches on display, even the one that Gerald Genta wore.  It was amazing to see the many incarnations of the watch through the years.  I was surprised to see one rectangular-shaped RO.  It was a rather ugly watch IMO, but I'm sure it's worth a fortune to the few lucky enough to own one.  The new 2012 RO models were also on display.  For those of you in the New York City area, these will be available to handle at the boutique's trunk show this weekend.

The exhibit wasn't very crowded.  When I was there, no more than ten to 15 others were in the vast hall, including boutique staff and security.  I guess that should not be surprising.  Most people have no idea who or what AP is.  The event definitely got a fair amount of press with ads in the WSJ and plenty of street light signs in the city.  It even got press in Boston because Tom Brady of the Patriots attended one of the nights with Arnold.

After exploring all parts of the exhibit, I headed over to the AP boutique on East 57th Street, where I was able to try on the Millenary 4101 in SS.  What a beauty!  At $24,100, not inexpensive, but affordable in AP terms.  (Did I actually say that?  I guess one can rationalize just about anything!)  The RG version was also on display.  There was no excess stock, just the two on display.  The sales associate who helped me said that demand exceeds supply and very few ADs have received any so far.

Dave