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Went to the AP Boutique in Geneva last week looking for a RO 15500ST (laughter fills the room)...After trying on the demo's the salesperson gave me a 15 minute demonstration on the CODE's, and I tried on three models. That plastic dial was the first thing that jumped at me, just looks cheap and flat, for a $28k I predict this model will not fly well with younger consumers.
I recently discovered that the movement in the CODE (non-chrono) is the same as the movement in the 15500ST. This could be part of the reason why there is a shortage in 500's, since AP is pushing the CODE production, and they have limited capacity to do both.
Will have to sit this one out till AP realizes they made a mistake, and continue producing more 500s to recoop losses.
Apparently the CODE has some innovative designs in the casing: concave glass that is thinner in the middle, and complex layering of case components: inside/underneath the circular dial is actually a octagonal casing, as well as some complicated process to have the AP logo stick out of the dial surface.
All this means nothing when the watch looks like it does... since no one will have the time of day to listen to all those innovations. A watch needs to speak for itself!
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