The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak certainly needs no introduction as it has become one of the most iconic and recognized timepieces ever made since its launch in 1972. Being the first ever stainless steel sports watch, the Royal Oak first featured a perpetual calendar complication in 1984, another signature trait of the firm. A groundbreaking feature, not many manufacturers at the time were producing mechanical perpetual calendars as it was during the midst of the quartz crisis, so to feature such complication in a stainless steel watch was simply unimaginable.

The Royal Oak collection has flourished today offering various complications, materials and sizes to collectors seeking for their preference. One of the latest addition to the Royal Oak family is the Quantieme Perpetual in 41mm diameter featuring the cal. 5134. Developed from the legendary cal. 2120 found in the original Royal Oak A series, the cal. 5134 retains its extremely thin profile with a perpetual calendar complication. Additionally, it features an extra weekly indication via an additional central hand indicating the week via the outer track.

While its case dimension is slightly larger, the aesthetics and dial layout certainly benefits from the feature. Encased in white gold, the smoky gray tappiserie dial paired with registers in a darker shade of gray is absolutely stunning further matched with a black outer track, allowing contrasting details such as the moon phases and red “31” on the date indication to stand out even more. This highly rare and attractive variation is made as a limited edition of 20 examples exclusively to the Japanese market in 2019.

The present example is fresh-to-the-market and is offered in “New Old Stock” condition complete with its full set of accessories. With the growing demand for Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar timepieces, this is a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a scarcely produced limited edition example that has never seen a wrist before.