Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Pictet & Cie Limited Edition

Audemars Piguet is perhaps the brand that can rightly be called the “King of limited editions” – such editions have been created in honour of athletes, actors, teams and all sorts of other occasions. In addition, some highly reputable companies commission limited series of AP models in order to mark important events or celebrate anniversaries – and today we have the pleasure of presenting precisely a representative of such a series. This extremely rare 36 mm steel model was produced in 2005 in a limited series of 1800 pieces. It was commissioned exclusively for the 200th anniversary of the prestigious Swiss private bank Pictet & Cie. The model was never sold in boutiques — all pieces were personally gifted to the bank’s employees, with an explicit prohibition on resale until July 2010. This makes the watch a true “hidden diamond” for collectors today. The caseback is solid and bears the deeply engraved coat of arms of Pictet & Cie, the years 1805–2005 and the name of its first owner. A historical trace that gives each piece its own individual story. The model is built on the basis of the classic AP 14790ST and visually does not differ from the base model. The dial is in the silver colour classic for the series, with the characteristic “waffle” guilloché. As most of you probably know, AP use in-house movements in most of their models – and in this case, that is exactly so. The solid caseback does not give us the opportunity to enjoy the AP Calibre 2225 – an automatic movement with rhodium plating, 40 jewels, 280 parts, a 40-hour power reserve, operating at the usual AP frequency of 21,600 vibrations, while in order to emphasise the noble origin of the movement, the rotor features an arc made of 21-carat gold.