Tom Brady and John Mayer are two of the most important watch collectors on the planet. We’ve known as the latter essentially the most influential assembler of timepieces on earth whereas the previous bought over $4 million price of watches at Sotheby’s in December. So, it’s not fully shocking to see that they’re typically on the identical web page. Within the fall of 2023, when Rolex began rolling out its “Puzzle dial” Day-Date, Mayer and Brady have been each noticed with the piece inside a number of days. In the event you needed any additional proof that Audemars Piguet has a success on its palms with its new one hundred and fiftieth anniversary Royal Oak, look no additional than the wrists of Mayer and Brady, who have been each seen carrying the brand-new piece this week.
A few months in the past, Audemars Piguet launched a groundbreaking new perpetual calendar motion in time for its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. Dubbed the Calibre 7138, it’s managed fully by means of the crown—there are not any tiny pushers within the case sides, and no miniscule corrector device to doubtlessly misplace. You pull the crown out to successive positions to regulate numerous calendar info, and as you push it again in, it engages totally different capabilities than on its means out. (We all know—all this sounds pretty nerdly and unexciting. However for watch guys, it’s really groundbreaking stuff.)
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One factor we hadn’t seen till this week was somebody carrying one of many new QPs within the wild. First up was Tom Brady, who indulged us on the opening of his new retailer Card Vault by Tom Brady on the American Dream mall in New Jersey—lastly, my household’s tax income put to good use! The GOAT rocked the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 26674SG.OO.1320SG.01 in sand gold, the corporate’s insanely lovely 18K valuable metallic alloy of rose and white gold. (The motion has additionally been fitted to a stainless-steel Royal Oak in addition to a white-gold Code 11.59.) Measuring 41 mm broad by simply 9.5 mm tall, it incorporates a gold-tone Grand Tappisserie dial with black indices in addition to the basic Royal Oak built-in bracelet.
Apart from the magic happening contained in the watch, a lot of the attraction of the brand new QPs is in refined dial tweaks. The show options the months and intercalary year at 3 o’clock, the moon part at 6 o’clock, the day and 24-hour indicator at 9 o’clock, the date at 12 o’clock, and the week quantity alongside the rehaut (the outermost fringe of the dial). “Monday” and “1” align completely with 12 o’clock, whereas a purple indicator inside the 9 o’clock register serves as a reminder to not set the watch between 9 p.m. and three a.m. within the morning. (It received’t break the motion—which is a chance on different QPs—when you set the watch between this time, however the indications may not replace correctly.) The date numbers, moreover, are all completely spaced—a tough feat that requires different-sized tooth for every date increment inside the date wheel. 5 years of cautious growth went into the Calibre 7138, whose design was granted three patents
A devoted watch collector, Brady has earned a number of different notable AP references up to now, so it comes as no shock that he’d be among the many first to snag this particular QP. In his December public sale, Brady parted with a pièce distinctive Royal Oak in white gold with a diamond-set bezel, a salmon dial, and his identify spelled out in calibré-cut and baguette-cut diamonds within the indices. (The watch’s winding rotor additionally has Brady’s signature in it.) No stranger to QPs, he’s additionally been noticed in a Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in blue ceramic in addition to a Royal Oak Grande Complication.
