One of the greatest horological innovations of the late 1970s was Audemars Piguet’s 1978 release of the world’s thinnest selfwinding perpetual calendar wristwatch. Conceived in secret, the groundbreaking perpetual calendar wristwatch achieved its extra thinness (3.95 mm) by adapting the exceptional calibre 2120 movement which was launched in 1967.
This new perpetual calendar calibre was central in attaining stability for Audemars Piguet during the Quartz Crisis, but also in ushering a new era of growth as it proved to be massively successful. Only a couple of brands were offering perpetual calendar wristwatches at the time and following the success of the new models, Audemars Piguet proceeded to revive and reinvent many other classic complications in years that followed.
During the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Audemars Piguet introduced a wide variety of perpetual calendar watches with varying design codes, ranging from the Royal Oak and the Royal Oak Offshore, to the Jules Audemars and the Tradition.
In 2015 the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar returns to centre stage with four different versions (two in steel, two in pink gold). Continuing the shift in watch case size that began in 2012, the new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar is now 41 mm, yet still extremely thin.
The enlarged size has resulted in a “Grande Tapisserie” dial design that greatly increases the overall aesthetics, balance and legibility of the perpetual calendar indications.
The layout of the dial includes all of the traditional indications of a perpetual calendar watch: day, date, month, leap year and in addition, a highly detailed astronomical moon.
On top of this, the 52 weeks of the year are indicated by an outer chapter ring with corresponding central hand, adding another layer of time measurement.
The new selfwinding calibre 5134 is based on its predecessor, calibre 2120, however it has been enlarged in accordance with the updated 41 mm case size. The highly finished 4.31 mm thick movement is fully visible through the glareproofed sapphire crystal caseback.
The thinner the movement, the more complex it is to adjust and assemble its parts as it requires extraordinary skills to work on components which are sometimes as thin as a human hair.
A powerful combination of modern aesthetics and prestigious traditional complication, the new 2015 Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar is the latest chapter of this incredible journey which began 140 years ago.
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