Russell Sheldrake
Audemars Piguet brings a new in-house automatic perpetual calendar movement to the market that is entirely operated through the crown.?The first three models it will appear in are a Code 11.59 and two Royal Oaks with one in steel and another in sand gold. There will be a limited run 150 pieces each followed by general production, these will cost CHF 109,300 and CHF 130,000. We have a whole host of new releases to go through from Audemars Piguet, and thankfully Zach has done an amazing job of summarising them all for you. But the most significant part of this bundle of releases is the new Calibre 7138, an ultra-thin, automatic perpetual calendar that is entirely controlled through the crown. There is a lot of technicality to get into here, so stay with me, but first let’s take a quick look at the three watches it debuts in – a Code 11.59 with an ice blue guilloche dial, a stainless steel Royal Oak, and a Sand gold Royal Oak. These three watches are not limited, though if you want the pieces with special dial script, you’ll have to get the first 150 of each model, celebrating Audemars Piguet’s 150th anniversary this year, and I personally can’t think of a better way for this Holy Trinity brand to mark such a significant milestone.Now, let’s take a step back and think about why this new calibre and these new releases are so important in the century and a half of AP’s history. Perpetual calendars have been at the heart of what Audemars Piguet is since before its inception, as it was a perpetual calendar pocket watch that one of the brand’s founders, Jules Louis Audemars, made as his school watch to mark his graduation from student to qualified watchmaker. This may answer why AP was one of the first brands to make perpetual calendars at scale in the 20th century, alongside its stablemate, Patek Philippe. While these complex calendar watches represented a large proportion of those available on the market, it’s important to highlight just how few and far between these watches were. Between 1921 (the year the first complete calendar wristwatch left AP) and 1970, only 188 complete calendar wristwatches were produced by the Le Brassus brand.The pureness of the design of the ref. 5548, courtesy of A Collected Man.During this period, perhaps the most important perpetual calendar that AP produced was the ref. 5516, introduced in 1955. It was the first perpetual calendar wristwatch to feature a leap year indicator, just as Jules Louis Audemars’ school watch did 80 years earlier. Only 12 of these watches were made, and acted as the perfect foil to Patek Philippe’s ref. 2497, the first and only other serially produced perpetual calendar around at the time. It also laid the foundation for the way we now conventionally display our perpetual calendars: with four sub-dials, including a moonphase.Two rather handsome AP QP’s, one in yellow and one in rose gold, courtesy of A Collected Man.The next great step that AP took in this field was in 1978 with the model affectionately nicknamed the “AP QP”, or Audemars Piguet Quantieme Perpetuel ref. 5548. This was a staggering feat, achieved entirely in secret by a crack team inside AP who were operating without the CEO’s knowledge. It wasn’t until they presented the finished prototype to George Golay that he knew anything about what would become the watch that saved the company. This ultra-thin automatic perpetual calendar has become a darling of the collecting community today, with countless iterations to be discovered in the archives, whether it’s the original blue Tuscan dials, rich salmon, or the mesmerising skeleton pieces, these watches feel impossibly small for what they are, and lay the perfect foundation for getting into the watches we are talking about today.More on the Calibre 7138The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak RD#2 ultra-thin perpetual calendar.The new Royal Oak and Code 11.59 trio all share the new Calibre 7138, a movement that’s been five years in the making. It’s based on the movement used in the RD#2, the calibre 5133, that led to that watch being the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar at the time. Of course, there have been plenty of modifications to this movement to create what we have today, as it’s gone from an insane 2.89mm thick, to a still-impressive 4.1mm. But more importantly, that RD#2 movement was adjusted using correctors on the side of the case, which the 7138 completely does away with, allowing the wearer to fully adjust every function using just the octagonal crown.Of course, this is not the first perpetual calendar to be fully adjustable through the crown – that title goes to the Da Vinci from IWC, developed by the legendary Kurt Klaus. But I have never seen a Da Vinci that measures just 9.5mm in thickness, as these two Royal Oak models do. It is worth noting the Code 11.59 is a little thicker at 10.6mm, but that will likely be due to the complex domed crystal it carries.One improvement from the RD#2 calibre that is obvious from the dial side is the moving of the leap year and day/night indicators from below the sub-dials at 3 and 9, to now sitting co-axially on them, as though they have been absorbed into the sub-dial, making for a much cleaner final dial that works just as well on the Code 11.59 and Royal Oak. There is also an additional feature of a week of the year indicator added to the periphery of the dial, read from the thin, arrow central hand.The key feature that this movement has carried over from the RD#2 calibre is the flattening of the traditional three layers of a perpetual calendar into just one. It achieves this by integrating the end-of-the-month cam into the date wheel, while the month cam is integrated into the month wheel. The added components needed for crown correcting then form an additional layer to the movement, taking it from 2.98mm thick, to 4.1mm.There is a safety feature built into this movement, and it is signalled clearly on the dial with the small red section on the day/night indicator between 21h and 3h to show that the watch should not be set during this time period. However, if the watch is set at this time, AP informs us that nothing will be damaged, but instead the date function may not set correctly. This is a massive improvement from traditional QP calibres, where great care is needed when attempting to set it so as to not damage the many delicate components inside. This is such a delicate operation that I know of some collectors who just take theirs to the local watchmaker whenever they need to be set. This doesn’t appear to be an issue here though. A truly functional innovation to have to help move this antiquated way of telling the time into the 21st century.Audemars Piguet explains that the new crown incorporates four different positions. The first enables you to wind the watch. Pulling the crown out to the second position sets the date in the clockwise direction, and adjusts the month and leap year in the opposite direction. In the third, you can set the time bidirectionally, and the last position reached by pushing the crown back one step to the second position allows you to set the day and week clockwise, and the moon phases counterclockwise.That may sound like a lot of work, but it is at least all performed through a single crown rather than an array of pushers. And let's be honest, with a perpetual calendar like this, you set it once, put it on a winder while not worn, and hope to still be alive in the year 2100 where it would need manual intervention.This new calibre is made up of 422 parts, beating at 4Hz with a minimum power reserve of 55 hours guaranteed by the brand. This is a nice boost from the brand’s previous automatic perpetual calendar movement, the calibre 5134 that was given its swan song in the John Mayer limited edition of last year, that only guaranteed 40 hours of power reserve.And a little bit on the new watchesAs I mentioned above, this new calibre is debuting in three new limited editions to start its life. All three carry the same features with the same dial layout, with a moonphase at 6, leap year and months at 3, date at 12, day/night and day of the week at 9, and week of the year running around the dial’s periphery. The first is an ice blue Code 111.59, this follows all of the aesthetic rules laid out by the Code 11.59 upon its release in 2019. While I am personally a big fan of the Star Wheel version, this new slim QP certainly adds another well throughout look to this once controversial line.The Code 11.59 measures 41mm across and 10.6mm thick, an impressive thinness for such a complex timepiece, with 30m of water resistance which AP is keen to point out is an improvement on the 20m found in previous perpetual calendar models they have offered. The guilloche pattern has been carried over from the 2023 model where is was designed by Swiss guilloche artisan Yann von Kaenel and is stamped with the addition of hundreds of little holes into the dial.The two Royal Oak models will likely be the focus of collectors and enthusiasts attention during this launch. They both measure 41mm across and 9.5mm thick with a blue dial version in stainless steel, and a sand gold-toned dial in sand gold. It is interesting to see AP go back to its proprietary gold alloy just one year after introducing it with the incredible flying tourbillon openworked that was released at last year’s Social Club. The main difference in terms of functionality here between the Royal Oak models and the Code 11.59 is a slight increase in reported water resistance to 50m, although I am still not taking either of these watches swimming. Both RO models feature the familiar Grande Tapisserie pattern, and lume filled white gold hour markers.Final thoughtsIt’s not often we get to see brands make such a big investment into developing new calibres, so it’s exciting when a brand that has spent such a long time committed to this one niche brings out something that speaks equally to its past and its future. I do have one small gripe about these new Calibre 7138 perpetual calendars, and that would be in regards to their daily wearability. Despite doing away with the case correctors, the Royal Oak still can’t get a water resistance rating over 50 metres, and the Code 11.59 manages even less, only laying claim to 30 metres. Despite the history of the Royal Oak being a sports watch, these fine examples of horology are not exactly designed to be taken into extreme conditions, but I would still want that extra layer of security protecting one of the most technical QP movements on the market today.Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Code 11.59 Calibre 7138 pricing and availabilityThe Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Code 11.59 pieces with the Calibre 7138 are each limited to 150 pieces with the special font and caseback engraving, while the regular script will be featured on production models. Price: CHF 109,300 (~US$122,000, Code 11.59), CHF 109,300 (~US$122,000, Royal Oak steel), CHF 130,000 (~US$145,000, Royal Oak Sand gold)BrandAudemars PiguetModelCode 11.59 Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar 41mmRoyal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar 41mmReference26494BC.OO.D350KB.0126674ST.OO.1320ST.0126674SG.OO.1320SG.01Case Dimensions41mm (D) x 10.6mm (T) (Code 11.59)41mm (D) x 9.5mm (Royal Oak)Case material18k white gold (Code 11.59)Stainless steel, Sand gold (Royal Oak)Water Resistance30 metres (Code 11.59)50 metres (Royal Oak)Crystal(s)Sapphire front and backDialTextured light blue (Code 11.59)Blue Grande Tapisserie, Sand gold-tone Grande Tapisserie (Royal Oak)Bracelet and strapBlue rubber with calfskin lining, white gold clasp (Code 11.59)Case-matching integrated bracelet (Royal Oak)MovementCalibre 7138, in-house, automaticPower Reserve55 hoursFunctionsHours, minutes, moonphase, crown-operated perpetual calendarAvailabilityRegular productionLimited to 150 pieces per model with special fontPriceCHF 109,300 (~US$122,000, Code 11.59)CHF 109,300 (~US$122,000, Royal Oak steel)CHF 130,000 (~US$145,000, Royal Oak Sand gold)
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