The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Scuppers]

Yep.

In all seriousness, I do not know if there is a single perpetual calendar that is available to purchase now that is near as lovely as the 1980s perpetual calendars pumped out by the big three.

I particularly like the IWC Novecento with the Kurt Klaus module, all functions controlled through the crown. I believe this was produced in 1985. Has always disturbed me that PP, VC and AP never bothered to respect the market, with this innovation, as IWC once did.

 

[Newcomer]

IWC Novecento with the Kurt Klaus module

As the owner of an annual calendar with a short power reserve, it really is a pain in the butt to set the watch and use the pushers. I agree, some additional interaction with the crown would be appreciated.

I am not familiar with the history of this, but I really love having functionality with pushing in the crown. For example:


Separately, that slow retrograde date is unbelievably cool.

 

[Dino944]

In terms of where the market is, I do not think there is a better deal than "neo-vintage" - this clocks in somewhere under $30,000.

View attachment 1745029

Beautiful AP!!! Values on a lot of pieces from the 1980s are kept in that range due to size. Simple time only pieces were often 33 or 34mm, with more complicated pieces being 36mm. Even AP's RO and Patek's Nautilus shrunk and most were offered most in a 36mm case (although yes Jumbo's were still available). Today, people expect larger/bolder cases and lugs, so many piece from the 80's are a bit tougher to sell. But they can represent a great value to those who like the size and those designs.

 

[Dino944]

I particularly like the IWC Novecento with the Kurt Klaus module, all functions controlled through the crown. I believe this was produced in 1985. Has always disturbed me that PP, VC and AP never bothered to respect the market, with this innovation, as IWC once did.

Absolutely, love IWC's Novencento! The first time I saw one was in the mid 90's. A client from Italy who was a big "Watch guy" back then came in wearing a 16518 yellow gold Daytona on a strap one wrist and a yellow gold Novecento on his other wrist. He didn't believe in world time or GMT watches, as this gave him an opportunity to wear 2 of his watches per day. The Novecento was stunning, and one rarely sees a rectangular perpetual calendar. I saw one for sale in a store about a year ago, but the condition wasn't quite as nice as I would have liked it to be. Otherwise I would have purchased it.

 

[Newcomer]

Beautiful AP!!! Values on a lot of pieces from the 1980s are kept in that range due to size. Simple time only pieces were often 33 or 34mm, with more complicated pieces being 36mm. Even AP's RO and Patek's Nautilus shrunk and were offered most of them were 36mm (although yes Jumbo's were still available). Today, people expect larger/bolder cases and lugs, so many piece from the 80's are a bit tougher to sell. But they can represent a great value to those who like the size and those designs.

Since I got my 36mm explorer, I have not taken it off my dainty wrist. To me, 33-34 mm is still too wee for my taste. And I still have zero qualms with sports watches between 40-42mm. But for a dress watch, 36-39 mm is the sweet spot for me. In fact, a lot of these 39mm plus dress watches have way too much dial, in my opinion. I tried the Patek 6119 recently, and it looked like a dinner plate on my wrist. (Note: Patek's Caliber 30‑255 PS is really nice, but 39mm is seemingly as small as they can go with that caliber. That is a bit of a pity. I think it will be fine with a complication or so, however.)

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I forgot gesticulating was a word. I plan on using it on an annoying level this evening.

 

[RobinMA]

In terms of where the market is, I do not think there is a better deal than "neo-vintage" - this clocks in somewhere under $30,000.

View attachment 1745029

The watch itself is great. Which ref# is it?

I know that some people believe that light-coloured "Hermes leather" straps in grey, taupe etc. are all the rage, but on this watch a traditional high gloss crocodile strap in black looks much more stratospherically appropriate.

 

[pmeis]

About 2 months into the pandemic, Everything I owned was blue dialed, 100m WR, 40mm with 20mm lugs. I thought this was the way to having a flexible, yet themed, collection that could interchange straps. Since then, with the exception of the Santos, everything that has stayed around for a decent length of time has been 38mm or smaller. At the moment in addition to the Santos, I have two 36mm Nomos, Zenith A384 and Grand Seiko at 37mm, a 38mm field watch and a 38.5mm skin diver. Prior to the Pandemic, I would say the majority of my watches were 40mm or larger.

I'm not sure why my tastes changed so much, I did manage to lose some weight, but it didn't effect my wrist size. It's not like the Pandemic drove me towards wearing more elegant clothing either... but almost nothing being released bigger than 38mm is of much interest to me right now.

 

[Scuppers]

The watch itself is great. Which ref# is it?

25548

 

[RobinMA]

Gaining traction

 

[TheFoo]

From the 50’s to the 90’s, AP made very elegant, classic perpetual calendar watches that were different-enough alternatives to PP’s more minimal designs.

You can see how the cases and dials incrementally evolved over the decades.

So the question is, how the fuck did they come up with this Code 11.59 travesty?

It has zero AP DNA in the case design—except the hidden octagonal middle case, which is RO-specific and has nothing to do with the company’s broader aesthetic tradition.

Same goes for the dial. They went for a super modern look and feel, which is not intrinsically bad, but which also has zero connection to the past. What a shame to sacrifice a storied lineage and history when AP is one of the few makers who truly has them.

It’s as if AP has decided that nothing before the RO really matters to their identity and aesthetic anymore, even when they venture outside the RO model line. Just a sad state of things.

 

[double00]

I forgot gesticulating was a word. I plan on using it on an annoying level this evening.

you could come up with a zany gesture to drive your point home

 

[TheFoo]

Faith validated!

Patek Geneva acknowledged the case finishing on my 5170 was indeed not quite right. They are sending it back to production for “return to stock” work (again)—that will either mean re-cutting the case to original spec or replacing it entirely.

One major advantage of a company that makes their own cases.

 

[RobinMA]

From the 50’s to the 90’s, AP made very elegant, classic perpetual calendar watches that were different-enough alternatives to PP’s more minimal designs.

View attachment 1745098
View attachment 1745099
View attachment 1745100
View attachment 1745101
View attachment 1745102
View attachment 1745103

You can see how the cases and dials incrementally evolved over the decades.

So the question is, how the fuck did they come up with this Code 11.59 travesty?

View attachment 1745105

It has zero AP DNA in the case design—except the hidden octagonal middle case, which is RO-specific and has nothing to do with the company’s broader aesthetic tradition.

Same goes for the dial. They went for a super modern look and feel, which is not intrinsically bad, but which also has zero connection to the past. What a shame to sacrifice a storied lineage and history when AP is one of the few makers who truly has them.

It’s as if AP has decided that nothing before the RO really matters to their identity and aesthetic anymore, even when they venture outside the RO model line. Just a sad state of things.

nice watch but does not speak to me

 

[Scuppers]

From the 50’s to the 90’s, AP made very elegant, classic perpetual calendar watches that were different-enough alternatives to PP’s more minimal designs.

View attachment 1745098
View attachment 1745099
View attachment 1745100
View attachment 1745101
View attachment 1745102
View attachment 1745103

You can see how the cases and dials incrementally evolved over the decades.

So the question is, how the fuck did they come up with this Code 11.59 travesty?

View attachment 1745105

It has zero AP DNA in the case design—except the hidden octagonal middle case, which is RO-specific and has nothing to do with the company’s broader aesthetic tradition.

Same goes for the dial. They went for a super modern look and feel, which is not intrinsically bad, but which also has zero connection to the past. What a shame to sacrifice a storied lineage and history when AP is one of the few makers who truly has them.

It’s as if AP has decided that nothing before the RO really matters to their identity and aesthetic anymore, even when they venture outside the RO model line. Just a sad state of things.

Ah, the 5516, a classic! First QP to display the year (well 9 of them did). Only took PP 25 years or so to follow suit with the 3450.

Yeah, that CODE is one hell-of-a-mess.