Audemars Piguet - The New York Watch Auction: NINE New York Saturday, December 9, 2023 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
    Year: 1991
    Reference No: 35677BA.OO.0000XX.99
    Movement No: 275’298
    Case No: D2044
    Model Name: Classique
    Material: 18K yellow gold
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 2003-SQ
    Dimensions: 35mm Diameter
    Signed: Case and movement signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Audemars Piguet Certificate of Origin, green leather watch pouch, small black coin pouch, hang tag, AP stationary and outer packaging. Further accompanied by photocopy Audemars Piaget Extract from the Archives confirming registration of the watch on May 13, 1991.

  • Catalogue Essay

    Coin watches provide a fascinating insight into the history of horology. These ultra slim timepieces were constructed from legal tender, requiring two coins to be split to form their outer case, and an impressively small watch to be completely hidden inside, via a separate, hinged case. Audemars Piguet is among many Swiss brands who created these lovely creations, and as the AP Extract from the Archives for the present lot confirms, production of them continued into the early 1990s. Typically, the manufacturer used historic United States $20 coins for watches meant for the American market.

    Audemars Piguet created a fine selection of rare coin watches, and the present model with skeletonized movement was their most prestigious. The 1891 Liberty Head coin has a bas-relief “Lady Liberty” on the front cover, while the reverse features the Great Seal of the United States along with “United States of America Twenty Dollars.” To open the watch, one must find the nearly invisible push button in the milled coin-edge side. The hidden case houses a spectacular, skeletonized, and hand-engraved movement with solid 14 karat gold bridges. This inner case is hinged and lifts up from within the coin to display the time.

    The present watch is in exceptional condition, complete with its rarely ever seen certificate of origin and full accessories.

  • Artist Biography

    Audemars Piguet

    Swiss • 1881

    A specialist in the manufacture of complications since it was established in 1881, Audemars Piguet never ceases to impress with a rich history of creating bold, even audacious, timepieces underpinned by traditional watchmaking at its finest. This Le Brassus-based Swiss manufacturer is one of only two major manufacturers still owned by the founding family. Since its earliest days, AP is considered a leader in the field of minute repeaters and grande complication pocket and wristwatches. The brand is devoted to preserving the history of watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux, showcased at their superb museum in Le Brassus.

    Today, the brand is best known for its Royal Oak models, a revolutionary luxury sports watch launched in 1972. Other key models include early minute repeating wristwatches, vintage chronograph wristwatches, such as the oversized reference 5020, perpetual calendar watches and the Royal Oak Offshore, first introduced in 1993.

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Ref. 35677BA.OO.0000XX.99
A very fine, rare, and attractive skeletonized twenty-dollar coin watch with certificate of origin

1991
35mm Diameter
Case and movement signed

Estimate
$5,000 - 10,000 
CHF4,500-9,000
€4,700-9,400
HK$39,000-78,100
S$6,800-13,600

Sold for $41,910

Contact Specialist

Paul Boutros
Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas
+1 (212) 940-1293
WatchesNY@Phillips.com
 
Isabella Proia
Head of Sale, New York
+1 (212) 940 1285
iproia@phillips.com

The New York Watch Auction: NINE

New York Auction 9 - 10 December 2023