Audemars Piguet Watch Numbering
Summary
Recognising Your Offspring
Within a society strongly based on planned obsolescence, when a manufactured item leaves its maker to be sold on, its story is almost over. After the warranty period, the object is often cheaper to replace than to repair. At Audemars Piguet, as with the major Haute Horlogerie brands, it is, on the contrary, when a watch leaves the workshops that its story really begins.
Designed to operate for decades, even centuries, a watch regularly returns to the bench for service or repair. In a best-case scenario, this takes place in the Audemars Piguet workshops. Very often, however, it passes through the hands of other watchmakers who repair it according to the tools available, their stock of components and their experience. Not to mention certain collectors who venture to open it up themselves!
For Audemars Piguet, it is essential to be able to identify its creations at any time, whatever their condition. Watchmakers must be able to recognise their "offspring", as this is the only way to restore these models to their original condition and guarantee their authenticity and functionality for future generations.
2014. Restoration of the 22-ligne Calibre equipping the so-called "Universelle" watch. To identify and restore a historical watch, the Restoration Atelier watchmakers use old registers, ancient components as well as their own expertise. They constantly share their knowledge to enrich their respective experiences and sometimes rediscover techniques that had disappeared. Audemars Piguet image.
2020. Movement components from the 1900s. The Audemars Piguet Restoration Atelier preserves components that have been manufactured since the 19th century. The name of the Calibre in which the component was fitted is indicated on each box. These elements serve as source of information to the watchmakers who, in case of need, rebuild the components with old tools. Picture by Audemars Piguet.
2016. Furniture with ancient supplies. In addition to movement components, the Audemars Piguet Restoration Atelier preserves ancient hands, crystals and other external parts, which serve to restore watches as well as to study the company's history. Picture by Audemars Piguet.
To Each Watch its Own Numbers
One of the first ways to recognise a watch is by the numbers engraved on its case and movement. At Audemars Piguet, these numbers have multiplied and expanded over time: calibre numbers, model numbers, bracelet numbers, etc. This codification was created for internal use, meaning essentially the repair and marketing of watches. Although it remained virtually impossible to grasp for the public at large, the collecting community took an interest in it at an early stage, based on an awareness that numbers could testify to the history of a watch, its authenticity or its rarity.
The use of engraved numbers goes back to the origins of the company, as can be seen from the registers in the archives which contain all the engraved numbers. These registers began to be kept in 1882 and continue to this day. More or less rich and numerous, depending on the period, they describe each watch produced as well as their type of mechanism and functions, in some cases its exterior, etc.
1882. Audemars Piguet Production Register. First double page of the oldest Production Register preserved in the Audemars Piguet Archives. Among the 13 watches mentioned, all are fitted with complications and 9 feature a minute repeater. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1931–1933. Audemars Piguet Production Register. From the 19th century to the beginning of the 2020s, a line was written in the Production Register for each watch produced, when leaving the Le Brassus workshop. This double-page highlights the gravity of the Great Depression with only two blanks purchased in 1932. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Audemars Piguet Registers. For circa a century and a half, each Audemars Piguet watch has had a few dedicated handwritten lines in different registers. These documents represent today one of the pillars enabling to reconstitute the history of the company and its creations.
Completed Watch Register No. 46. Before 1951, each Audemars Piguet watch was unique. The Completed Watch Register no. 46 describes in detail each watch sold between 1929 and the mid-1930s. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1928. Wristwatch with complete calendar on its original description. Placed on the archive page that describes it, this wristwatch with a complete calendar, movement and case no. 3457, contains Calibre 10GHSM. The document describes its "green gold" case, its "blue Breguet" hands. Its 14-carat gold dial is signed À L'ÉMERAUDE LAUSANNE. Pre-Model 180. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 159.
1907–1927. Archives of the so-called "John Schaeffer" watch. Before 1951, each Audemars Piguet watch was unique. Each watch is described in detail in the Completed Watch Register. This page describes the watch no. 11649 from its first version in 1907 to the customisation of its dial in 1927. Every time the watch returned to Le Brassus, a sheet was added, documenting the operations performed by the watchmakers. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Movement Number
Since the 19th century, each Audemars Piguet movement has had a unique number engraved on the baseplate or on a bridge. This number is carefully transcribed in a Production Register (Registre d’Établissage). The oldest Audemars Piguet register has disappeared, so the documented numbers start in 1882 with the number 2000 and the numbers increase incrementally thereafter.
All that is required to identify a watch is to compare the information in the register with that on the watch itself. By way of example, the registers indicate that the number 3824 corresponds to a double complication pocket watch sold in 1890, which is confirmed by examining the watch, which belongs to the Audemars Piguet Heritage Collection (pictured). Another example from the same collection: movement number 30828 corresponds to a miniature minute repeater sold in 1924, which has been on display since 2020 in the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus (pictured).
Double complication pocket watch No. 3824, on the Production Register. In the 19th century, before the introduction of calibre numbers, each movement was different from one another, so that the mechanism was described only by its major characteristics. In this instance, its diameter (18 lignes, or 40.6 mm), its functions (minute repeater, chronograph) and its material (nickel here means nickel silver) are listed. Sold in 1890, the watch joined the Audemars Piguet Heritage Collection a century later (inv. 25).
1890. Pocket watch with double complication, movement side. Minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph. 18-ligne calibre (40.6 mm), movement 3824. Enamel dial. 51.6 mm case no. 3824 in 18-carat pink gold. Sold in July 1890. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 25.
1890. Close-up on pocket watch with double complication. The number of the movement is engraved in gold on the split-seconds bridge. Watchmakers will note the extreme thinness of the split-seconds wheel teeth and the quality of the finishing: screwed studs, polished and bevelled steel, wide Côtes de Genève motif, nickel, etc. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 25.
1926. Wristwatch with minute repeater. First embossed in platinum (1925), this watch received a new white gold casing the following year. Calibre 11SMV#5, movement 30674. Satin-finished dial. Case no. 30674 in 18-carat white gold. Sold to Gübelin in 1925, re-set in 1926. Pre-Model 198. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1227.
1926. Calibre 11SMV#5. Minute repeater with close-by mirror-polished gongs. Zigzaging bridges decorated with Côtes de Genève. 29 jewels. Movement 30674, cased up in 1925 in Pre-Model 198. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1227.
1926. Close-up on Calibre 11SMV#5. The movement number is engraved on the crown wheel bridge. The gilded engravings specify the movement's jewel number as well as the number of positions in which the watch's precision has been tested. Movement 30674, cased up in 1925 in Pre-Model 198. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1227.
Movement Number and Production Statistics
Since movement numbers are assigned consecutively, it is tempting for the historian to infer that Audemars Piguet's total production corresponds to the highest movement number of its period. For example, the above-mentioned minute repeater No. 30828 (1924) should be the 30,828th watch made by Audemars Piguet. In other words, the company should have produced more than 30,000 watches in 1924 – whereas an analysis of the records shows that this is not the case.
Many numbers were not in fact used. During the first decades of the company's history, only about half of the numbers were allocated. Thus, for example, watch No. 60000 (1956), is only about the 30,000th produced by Audemars Piguet since 1875.
Why did watchmakers use only some of the numbers? While that remains a mystery, this practice became increasingly rare from the latter half of the 20th century onwards until it almost disappeared. This meant that when the number of movements was nearing the one-million mark in 2017, the total production stood at around 800,000 units, (thereby corresponding in 142 years to one year’s production by Rolex).
Nonetheless, no Audemars Piguet watch movement would ever bear the number 1000000. After the number 999988, the company introduced an alphanumerical numbering system consisting of two letters followed by four digits. The system using six consecutive digits starts with AA0001 to AA9999, before moving on to AB0001, etc.
1880-2017. Approximate dating of Audemars Piguet watches according to their movement number.
The number engraved on a watch movement enables an estimate of the period when the watch housing it was first commercialised. However, only a full appraisal of the watch itself can guarantee the accuracy of the information.
| Years | From | To |
| 1880*-1889 | 2000 | 4500 |
| 1890-1899 | 4000 | 6500 |
| 1900-1909 | 6000 | 14000 |
| 1910-1919 | 11000 | 27000 |
| 1920-1929 | 23000 | 42000 |
| 1930-1939 | 41000 | 45000 |
| 1940-1949 | 44000 | 60000 |
| 1950-1959 | 55000 | 80000 |
| 1960-1969 | 72000 | 120000 |
| 1970-1979 | 110000 | 230000 |
| 1980-1989 | 220000 | 350000 |
| 1990-1999 | 330000 | 490000 |
| 2000-2009 | 475000 | 750000 |
| 2010-2017 | 700000 | 999999 |
A First Key to Accurate Dating
The owner of an Audemars Piguet watch might be tempted to estimate its production date from the movement number. The reasoning seems obvious: since the numbering is consecutive, the chronology should follow the numbers in a linear order. A study of the registers only partially confirms this hypothesis. For example, most of the numbers 20900 to 21000 correspond to watches made around 1918; whereas in the early 1950s, the numbers were in the vicinity of 57000–60000 (see table in the previous paragraph).
Once again, there are certain exceptions to the rule. The movement number is not a sufficient means of determining the exact date of a watch. This is partly because while movement blanks were numbered at the time of their acquisition by Audemars Piguet, some were kept for years, even decades, before being finished and cased-up. In addition, some movements have been re-cased several times in different exteriors. An extreme example: the minute repeater wristwatch No. 8712 illustrated on page 73 of the book Audemars Piguet 20th Century Complicated Wristwatches was cased and sold in 1951, yet it contains a calibre produced around 1886.
1951. Minute repeater wristwatch No. 8712 on Production Register. Cased-up in 1951 (Model 5528), this watch houses a calibre produced in the 1880s, cased-up five times by Audemars Piguet (1889, 1900, 1904, 1921 and 1951). Numbered 3844 in 1886, renumbered 8712 in 1904. Calibre 14MVI. Case and movement 8712. 18-carat yellow gold. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1633.
1951. Minute repeater wristwatch No. 8712. Minute repeater. Calibre 14MVI (blank around 1886). Silvered dial. Case and movement 8712. 18-carat yellow gold. Sold in New York in 1951. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1633.
1951. Calibre 14MVI No. 8712. Minute repeater with distant mirror-polished gongs. Straight bridges decorated with Côtes de Genève. 30 jewels. Blank produced at the end of the 1880s, cased and re-numbered numerous times. Last casing in 1951 in Model 5528. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1633.
1951. Close-up on Calibre 14MVI. The signature and movement number are engraved on the chiming barrel bridge. Their style evokes the techniques used at the end of the 19th century, date of the movement's first version, half a century before the watch was sold as Model 5528. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1633.
Big Case Number
All Audemars Piguet watches have a number engraved on their case, either on the back or on the inside and sometimes both. We will henceforth call this the big case number (as opposed to the small Royal Oak number). For almost 75 years, this number was identical to that of the movement. As each watch was unique, the mechanical heart and its exterior were made for each other. If the number differs, it is because the exterior was made without any direct link to Audemars Piguet.
In the early 1950s, as the Western world entered the longest and most spectacular growth phase in its history, Audemars Piguet undertook a modernisation process. One of the consequences of this reorganisation was a modification of the big case number which – for the first time – became independent of the movement number. From now on, Audemars Piguet could purchase series of identical, pre-numbered cases from case manufacturers and pair them freely with movements during casing-up in Le Brassus.
Thus, in 1951 for example, the case of the watch containing the 54651 movement bore the engraved number 101. The case numbers were then assigned incrementally: 102, 103, etc. They were hand-written in new documents called Case Registers (Registres des Boîtes). Around 1975–1976, as Audemars Piguet began to approach the number 100000, it decided to refine its numbering system by adding a letter to the beginning of the combination of numbers. The numbering started with the letter B because the first 100,000 or so cases, even if they did not have a letter, were tacitly associated with the letter A of the big case numbers.
The big case numbers thus now had a letter followed by a number from 1 to 99,999. For example, the openworked wrist chronograph produced in 1981 with the B61720 case engraving contains the 244108 movement (pictured). The numbering never reached 100,000, perhaps because of the length of the combinations to be engraved on the sometimes small cases. Thus, after number C99999, the next letter starts with number D1 and so on… As far as movement numbers are concerned, the large case numbers provide an initial estimate of the product period but are not sufficient to date a watch accurately (see illustrated table).
This numbering continued until 2017, when the letter K was displayed. At that point, the case numbering system changed again to a succession of random numbers and letters.
1929. Double complication pocket watch, opened from the caseback side. Minute repeater, full calendar, jumping hours, large moon and ages of the moon on the bridge side. Calibre 18SMV#2 (blank dating from 1920). Case 48 mm no. 26852 (engraving visible on the inside of the lid) in platinum. Sold to Bittman Saint Moritz (Switzerland) in 1929. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1753.
1914. Minute repeater pocket watch, caseback side. Minute repeater. Calibre 18SMV#4 (blank dating from 1910), movement and case no. 13646 (engraving visible on the crown bridge and inside the dome). Case 47 mm in 18-carat yellow. Sold in New York in February 1914. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 92.
1951. Audemars Piguet Case Production Register. From 1951 onwards, Audemars Piguet dissociated the movement number (consecutive since the 19th century) from the case number, which starts at 101. The right-hand column introduced the model number. On the left: first Case Register double page. On the right: first double page of the first register for the B series. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1981. Chonograph wristwatch 5556BA, caseback view. The finely openworked Calibre 5030 is made from a 13-ligne Valjoux 23 movement blank. Movement 244108 (hand-engraved on the underside of the balance wheel). Bracelet 498 in yellow gold with Polish mesh. Case B61720 (hand-engraved on the bezel above the column wheel) in 18-carat yellow gold. Sold in the United States in January 1981. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 743.
2003. Grande Sonnerie 25896PT (1998), caseback view. Quarter repeater. Calibre 2868 (1996) openworked, movement 404086 (blank 1997). Case no. D87337 in platinum. Sold in New York in April 2003. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1951–2020. Approximate dating of Audemars Piguet watches according to the large case number
Since 1951, the case number differs from the movement number. It enables an estimate of the period when the watch was first commercialised. However, only a full appraisal of the watch itself can guarantee the accuracy of the information.
| Large case numbers | |||
| From | To | Start | End Approx. |
| 101 | 105393 | 1951 | 1976 |
| B 1 | B 99999 | 1975 | 1990 |
| C 1 | C 99999 | 1984 | 1995 |
| D 1 | D 99999 | 1991 | 2000 |
| E 1 | E 99999 | 1998 | 2010 |
| F 1 | F 99999 | 2003 | 2010 |
| G 1 | G 99999 | 2009 | 2015 |
| H 1 | H 99999 | 2011 | 2015 |
| I 1 | I 99999 | 2013 | 2020 |
| J 1 | J 94000 | 2015 | 2020 |
Model Number
Let's go back to the above-mentioned reorganisation in 1951. Until then, the idea of making two exactly identical watches was inconceivable for Audemars Piguet artisans. Each watch was therefore described separately in small hard-covered notebooks called Registers of Completed Watches (Registres des Montres Complètes).
However, on the cusp of the post-war boom period, the increase in production and the expansion of distribution made it necessary to review this modus operandi and the brand decided to produce identical watches in small series. This revolution was accompanied by the introduction of the concept of the watch model, which was new for the company.
The model number (sometimes also referred to as the reference number or model number) afforded considerable commercial advantages. For the first time, Audemars Piguet customers could order several examples of the same model! It is important to recall that the company sold its watches to retailers at the time. By publishing small catalogues, booklets and other promotional material presenting the available collections, the brand could thereby also address end customers directly.
We have seen that from 1951 onwards, the big case numbers were distinct from the movement numbers, linked by the model. It should be noted that this last number is only very rarely engraved in the watch, but that it always appears in the Case Registers and the Production Registers. It refers to numbered photographs, to catalogues, and then to product sheets that specify the characteristics shared by each watch of the same model.
1960. Audemars Piguet catalogue. Models 5043, 5125 and 5141 were powered by Calibre 2003, the thinnest of its era (1.64 mm). They belonged to Audemars Piguet's core collection at the turn of the 1960s. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Circa 1960. Audemars Piguet catalogue. Although these watches have a Model number (5806, 5813 and 5976) and appeared in the brand's catalogue, they were manufactured in a handful of examples only as their miniature movements represented a real technical feat. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1972. Audemars Piguet Catalogue. Models 5429, 5427, 5420 and 5419 are equipped with the extra-thin selfwinding Calibre 2120 or its derivative, Calibre 2121 (with date indication). Their shape recalls televisions of the time. Audemars Piguet Archives.
A Very Relative Revolution
It would be wrong to see in this new system a profound transformation of production methods, which remained essentially hand-crafted. The series remained very limited, generally based on batches of ten to 20 cases, or even less. Audemars Piguet still produced a large number of different calibres and hundreds of models. For example, in 1951, there were at least 15 distinct calibres in production for about 900 watches sold.
Thus, the notion of model that appeared at Audemars Piguet stood out from other watch brands of the time that were already industrialised and needed a detailed reference management system. At Audemars Piguet, the model number initially defined only the shape and size of the case. While the material was quickly added, it would take decades for the model number to mention the strap/bracelet, the finishing or the dial version.
Birth of a New Vocabulary
Originally composed of four digits, the model numbers created a language of their own. Whereas designating a double-complication pocket watch in 1912 implied describing it in detail, simply naming the reference number of Models 5043, 5402 or 15202 is enough to know which timepiece is being spoken of. A model number is to a watch what a first name is to a person.
From the end of the 1950s, watchmakers created categories or families of timepieces in relation to their model number. The numbering began to be structured to the complexity of the watch or its type. A study carried out by the Customer Service Department in 1997 describes these categories in the following terms:
N° 4000 to 4999: Men's watches, metal bracelet
N° 5000 to 5499: Older models for men
N° 5500 to 5599: Complicated watches (pocket watches and wristwatches)
N° 5600 to 5799: Pocket watches
N° 5800 to 5999: Older models for ladies
N° 6000 to 6999: Quartz watches
N° 7000 to 7999: Ladies' mechanical watches, leather strap
N° 8000 to 9999: Ladies' mechanical watches, metal bracelet
1950s ̶ 60s. Model catalogue. As early as the 1920s, the person in charge of Audemars Piguet distribution travels around the world with a briefcase full of watches and photograph binders. In 1951, the introduction of model numbers simplified orders. However, the retailers retain the freedom to ask different dials from the ones illustrated in the commercial catalogue. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1950s ̶ 60s. Model catalogue. Equipped with some of the smallest mechanisms in the world, these models stand out by their aesthetic creativity and variety. Some might have been produced as unique examples. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1970s. Model catalogue. Predominantly produced as unique examples, these ultra-thin pocket watch models are all equipped with the fully openworked Calibre 5017. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1997. Customer Service Study. This table establishes the major categories of Audemars Piguet watches covering the period from 1951 to 1997. It enables us to establish the correspondences between the 4-digit system and its 5-digit successor, introduced in the mid-1980s. Audemars Piguet Archives.
The Five-Digit Reference
In the 1970s, production was further structured, notably with the creation of a Technical Department in 1973. From then on, in the Production Registers and later in certain catalogues, the bracelet reference was added. The metal was also coded and included before or after the reference. "ST" thus means steel, "BA" yellow gold, "BC" white gold and "SA" is a combination of steel and gold. For example, 5002BA means that the 5002 watch is in yellow gold. This system has been enriched right the way through to the 21st century and includes dozens of references, of which the main ones are described in the illustration.
Strongly attached to hand-crafted small series, or even one-offs, Audemars Piguet continued to create hundreds of models at such a speed that in the early 1980s, it became clear that with four-digit references, it would not be possible to give different numbers to each new model. Jacques-Louis Audemars and Georges Golay, who were running the company at the time, decided to add a fifth number. The system was introduced to production from 1984–85 and to the catalogues from 1986. All the new references have five digits and the old ones were renamed. Thus, 5402 became 25402, 8638 became 78638, etc.
Later christened the "root reference", this five-digit code served as the basis for expanding and refining the model numbers, which from the early 2000s onwards were gradually given additional codes providing information on the gemsetting, the finishing, the buckle/clasp, the bracelet, its material and the dial (see table).
Case material abbreviations
Since the 1970s, the model number of Audemars Piguet watches has been supplemented by an indication of the main material (or materials) of its case.
| Code | Material | Code | Material |
| AA | Green gold | OK | Pink gold / rubber |
| AC | Yellow gold / white gold | OL | Pink gold / Tantalum |
| AG | Silver | OM | Pink gold / cermet |
| AE | Alacrite | OR | Pink gold |
| AI | Alacrite / Titanium | OS | Forged carbon / steel |
| AK | Yellow gold / rubber | PA | Platinum / yellow gold |
| AL | Aluminium | PO | Platinum / ceramic |
| AP | Yellow gold / platinum | PM | Platinum / cermet |
| AR | Yellow gold / pink gold | PR | Platinum / pink gold |
| AU | From 3 materials | PT | Platinum |
| BA | Yellow gold | RA | Pink gold / yellow gold |
| BC | White gold | RC | Pink gold / white gold |
| CA | White gold / yellow gold | RO | Pink gold / ceramic |
| CB | White ceramic | RP | Pink gold / platinum |
| CE | Black ceramic | SA | Steel / yellow gold |
| CK | White gold / rubber | SB | Blue PVD-treated steel |
| CN | White gold / ceramic | SC | Steel / white gold |
| CR | White gold / pink gold | SK | Steel / rubber |
| FC | Carbon fibres | SN | Black PVD-treated steel |
| FO | Forged carbon / ceramic | SO | Steel / carbon |
| FR | Carbon / pink gold | SP | Steel / platinum |
| FS | Carbon / steel | SR | Steel / pink gold |
| IA | Titanium / yellow gold | ST | Steel |
| IB | Titanium / blue PVD-treated steel | TA | Tantalum / yellow gold |
| IC | Titanium / white gold | TI | Titanium |
| IK | Titanium / rubber | TK | Tantalum / rubber |
| IO | Titanium / ceramic | TL | Tantalum |
| IM | Titanium / cermet | TP | Tantalum / platinum |
| IP | Titanium / platinum | TR | Tantalum / pink gold |
| IR | Titanium / pink gold | TS | Steel / tantalum |
| IS | Titanium / steel | TT | Tantalum / steel |
| LT | Brass | ZI | White diamond / blue sapphire setting |
| OI | Pink gold / Titanium | ZO | White diamond / onyx setting |
| OF | Pink gold / forged carbon |
Structure of the Audemars Piguet model references.
Progressively enriched from the 1950s to the turn of the 21st century, the Audemars Piguet watch reference gives an initial idea of the main aesthetic features of the watch.
| Characteristics | Root ref. (4-5 figures) |
Case material (2 letters) |
terminaison (2 letters) |
Buckle if leather strap (A or D) |
Bracelet (Colour code of model number) |
Strap material (2 letters) |
Dial (2 numbers) |
| Example 1 | 15202 | ST | OO | 944 | ST | 3 | |
| Description | Royal Oak | Steel | Standard decoration | RO strap | Steel | Blue dial | |
| Example 2 | 15180 | BC | OO | A | 2 | CR | 1 |
| Description | Jules Audemars | White gold | Standard decoration | Pin buckle | Black | Alligator leather | Silver-toned dial |
Small Royal Oak Number
Launched in 1972, the Royal Oak 5402ST represented a minor revolution in the watchmaking world. Its design, its unusual treatment of steel, its ability to combine sport and craftsmanship, modernity and tradition, overturned the codes of Haute Horlogerie. On a smaller scale, this watch also changed the numbering system of Audemars Piguet watches. To express the rarity and support the value of this model (the first produced in a series of more than 1,000 identical watches), the brand decided to introduce the small Royal Oak number or small case number, whose story is told in a dedicated article.
In a few words: the big case number migrates to the inside of the case, making way for an alphanumerical system composed of a letter followed by a number, initially intended for the owner of the watch. A forerunner of the limited-edition concept, this system numbered each model from A1 to A2000, then B1000 to B2000, etc. From 1976 to the end of the 2010s, a simplified version was adopted for all Royal Oak models.
1973. Royal Oak borchure (extract). The Royal Oak's promotional leaflet edited in 1973 underlines the interest of the new numbering system. Audemars Piguet Archives.
5402 fused monocoque caseback and case middle, engraved "Royal Oak No A 26". The Royal Oak logo and "small number" are engraved in a large typeface on the watch's caseback. These inscriptions are meant for the public. The other identification numbers, which are hidden inside the case, are for the watchmakers' eyes only. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 365.
1972. Royal Oak 5402ST No. A26, caseback view. Calibre 2121, movement 127059. Bracelet 344, T21 Tapisserie dial. 39 mm case 67026 in steel. Sold to Gameo in 1972. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 365.
1996. Royal Oak 15002ST, n° 92, côté fond. Date. Calibre 2121, mouvement 405930. Bracelet 944. Cadran tapisserie T21. Boîte 39 mm D67713. Acier. Vendue en 1996 à AP Fintime (Italie). Patrimoine Audemars Piguet, inv. 1964.
Conclusion
Created to guarantee the longevity of watches, the numbering system developed by Audemars Piguet has been expanded since 1875 to meet the changes in the Manufacture, as well as the needs and techniques of its time. The codification underwent its most important overhaul in 2017. The numbering system for movements and cases became alphanumerical, with each number being assigned randomly.
The only exception to this system mutation is the model number, which remains untouched, since it is now so deeply embedded in the company's culture, creating a full-fledged language shared both within the walls of Audemars Piguet and in the collectors’ community. Both internally and externally, the degree of initiation into the brand is sometimes measured by the ability to converse by punctuating one's sentences with model references. Are you more of a 15202IP or 26331BA?
Editorial board: Audemars Piguet Heritage team, Le Brassus
First publication: 14 April 2022
