25808, Royal Oak Offshore Calendar
1997. Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808ST. Catalogue 1997-98. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Circa 1996. Identification image of Model 25808. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1997. Royal Oak Offshore brochure. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Emmanuel Gueit designed a multicoloured Offshore collection for an anniversary showcase. Enthusiasm was such that the watches were produced in series. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1996. Calibre 2127/2827. Identification image produced in 2004.
Circa 1996. Technical data for Model 25808BC. No examples are documented in the sales archives. Audemars Piguet Archives
1955. Perpetual calendar wristwatch model 5516. First wristwatch model with leap-year cycle indication. Movement 66136, Calibre 13VZSSQP. Case 11151 in 18K yellow gold. Gold dial. Movement blank produced in 1955, sold in 1959 to Vacheron Constantin. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 1732.
While the first Royal Oak Offshore, Model 25721, had made headlines with its extraordinary proportions (42 mm in diameter and 14.05 mm thick), Model 25807 and its leather-strap version 25808, saw a return to dimensions more in tune with the era, i.e. 38 mm in diameter and 12.05 mm thick.
Calibre 2127/2827 developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre (Ref. 891/447) for Audemars Piguet belongs to the family of 11½-ligne selfwinding watches, which includes Calibres 2123, 2124 and 2125. A nod to the legendary 1955 Model 5516, the peripheral date hand complements the day and month windows positioned at 2 and 10 o'clock.
These three calendar indications make Models 25807 and 25808 "triple calendar" or "full calendar" watches. It should however be noted that some purists reserve the latter term for watches equipped with a moon phase. However, the fact that these Royal Oak Offshore models do not bear such a display is doubtless because Emmanuel Gueit opted to add a small seconds indication so as to maintain a sportier design.
Model 25808 was issued in a run of 604 units in steel and 76 in yellow gold. While the technical archives mention a version in white gold, our research did not find any trace of it in the sales archives.
Generally speaking, the relatively small production of Model 25808 can perhaps be explained by its aesthetic resemblance to the Royal Oak with leather strap Model 14800 (36 mm, Calibre 2125, from 1992).
Sales from 1996 to 2006: a total of 680 units, of which 21 (1996), 336 (1997), 214 (1998), 64 (1999), 10 (2000), 20 (2001), 5 (2002), 9 (2003) and 1 (2006)
While the first Royal Oak Offshore, Model 25721, had made headlines with its extraordinary proportions (42 mm in diameter and 14.05 mm thick), Model 25807 and its leather-strap version 25808, saw a return to dimensions more in tune with the era, i.e. 38 mm in diameter and 12.05 mm thick.
Calibre 2127/2827 developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre (Ref. 891/447) for Audemars Piguet belongs to the family of 11½-ligne selfwinding watches, which includes Calibres 2123, 2124 and 2125. A nod to the legendary 1955 Model 5516, the peripheral date hand complements the day and month windows positioned at 2 and 10 o'clock.
These three calendar indications make Models 25807 and 25808 "triple calendar" or "full calendar" watches. It should however be noted that some purists reserve the latter term for watches equipped with a moon phase. However, the fact that these Royal Oak Offshore models do not bear such a display is doubtless because Emmanuel Gueit opted to add a small seconds indication so as to maintain a sportier design.
Model 25808 was issued in a run of 604 units in steel and 76 in yellow gold. While the technical archives mention a version in white gold, our research did not find any trace of it in the sales archives.
Generally speaking, the relatively small production of Model 25808 can perhaps be explained by its aesthetic resemblance to the Royal Oak with leather strap Model 14800 (36 mm, Calibre 2125, from 1992).
Sales from 1996 to 2006: a total of 680 units, of which 21 (1996), 336 (1997), 214 (1998), 64 (1999), 10 (2000), 20 (2001), 5 (2002), 9 (2003) and 1 (2006)
Circa 1996. Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808ST, No. 62. Calibre 2127/2827. Complete calendar: day and month aperture, date hand. 38 mm steel Case D75363. Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50 dial and strap. Prototype probably presented at the SIHH during the launch of Model 25808 in 1996. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 505.
Circa 1997. Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808ST, No. 94. Calibre 2127/2827. Complete calendar: day and month aperture, date hand. 38 mm steel Case D75295. Green dial and strap. Prototype probably presented at the SIHH for the launch of the multicoloured collection in 1997. Audemars Piguet Heritage, inv. 613.
Circa 1997. Identification image of Model 25808ST. Red dial and strap. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Circa 1997. Identification image of model 25808ST. Brown dial and strap. Audemars Piguet Archives.
Circa 1997. Identification images of Model 25808ST. Multicoloured collection. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1996. Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph 25807ST. The first variant of the model remained in the Audemars Piguet catalogue from 1996 to 2001. 1996 advertising brochure. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1997. Technical data for Model 25808ST. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1997. Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808ST, No. 259. Calibre 2127/2827. Complete calendar: day and month aperture, date hand. Movement 444512, 38 mm steel Case D93610. Sharkskin strap. Auctioned by Antiquorum Geneva on May 10, 2022, lot 65 © Antiquorum.
Accounting for almost 90% of production, the steel version of Model 25808 is also the one that offers the greatest variety of dials and straps.
The version with the "Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50" dial featuring a T21 tapisserie dial remained unchanged in the catalogue from 1996 to 2001. It is punctuated by 10 very thin and elongated luminescent hour-markers, whereas all the other versions have very short and very wide "bathtub" hour-markers. As the dials of this model are the same as those of the Royal Oak Offshore Day Date 25807, this feature is picked up in the latter.
In 1997, Model 25808 was part of the multicoloured collection created to mark the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak collection, which also includes References 25770 (42 mm) and 77151 (30 mm).
Sales from 1996 to 2006: a total of 604 units, of which 21 (1996), 204 (1997), 60 (1999), 10 (2000), 19 (2001), 5 (2002), 9 (2003) and 1 (2006).
Accounting for almost 90% of production, the steel version of Model 25808 is also the one that offers the greatest variety of dials and straps.
The version with the "Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50" dial featuring a T21 tapisserie dial remained unchanged in the catalogue from 1996 to 2001. It is punctuated by 10 very thin and elongated luminescent hour-markers, whereas all the other versions have very short and very wide "bathtub" hour-markers. As the dials of this model are the same as those of the Royal Oak Offshore Day Date 25807, this feature is picked up in the latter.
In 1997, Model 25808 was part of the multicoloured collection created to mark the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak collection, which also includes References 25770 (42 mm) and 77151 (30 mm).
Sales from 1996 to 2006: a total of 604 units, of which 21 (1996), 204 (1997), 60 (1999), 10 (2000), 19 (2001), 5 (2002), 9 (2003) and 1 (2006).
1997. Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808 No. 1. Day, date, month. Calibre 2127/2827, Movement No. 440745. 38 mm steel case No. D67922. Sold in the United Kingdom in February 1997. Auctioned by Antiquorum Hong Kong on July 9, 2016, lot 340 © Antiquorum
1997, Royal Oak Offshore Complete Calendar 25808BA. This yellow gold variant remained in the Audemars Piguet catalogue from 1997 to 2001. Audemars Piguet Archives.
1997. Technical data for Model 25808BA. Audemars Piguet Archives.
The yellow gold variant was produced in a run of only 76, of which 80 % were sold in 1997. The iconographic archives mention only one dial (blue T21 tapisserie) and strap (sharkskin) variant. Nevertheless, the only example sold at auction between 2012 and the publication of this article in 2023 features a brown dial and strap. Sold by Antiquorum in Hong Kong on July 7, 2016, it bears number 001.
Sales from 1997 to 2001: a total of 76 units, of which 61 (1997), 10 (1998), 4 (1999) and 1 (2001).
The yellow gold variant was produced in a run of only 76, of which 80 % were sold in 1997. The iconographic archives mention only one dial (blue T21 tapisserie) and strap (sharkskin) variant. Nevertheless, the only example sold at auction between 2012 and the publication of this article in 2023 features a brown dial and strap. Sold by Antiquorum in Hong Kong on July 7, 2016, it bears number 001.
Sales from 1997 to 2001: a total of 76 units, of which 61 (1997), 10 (1998), 4 (1999) and 1 (2001).
