Incoming: the Tourbillon Automatique ave Reserve de Marche

[TooWoundUp]

Just got this in, a grail of mine, a Tourbillon Automatique avec Reserve de Marche. A very historic watch and the precursor to the Jules Audemars line. The second ever automatic tourbillon made by AP. Got it from the original owner.

This particular reference has the famous AP in-house back-winding automatic caliber - this means that there is no crown at 3 o'clock. You may realize that AP also put this caliber in the Royal Oak case. This makes for a very interesting design that I think is so unique. The watch is, of course, a tourbillon but also has a date function as well as a power reserve. Given that this is automatic, the inclusion of a power reserve is definitely questionable from AP but hey, that's what AP was in the 80s and 80s - a hot mess lol. AP made this reference in gold, rose gold and platinum (seen here).


This particular example has the rare "first series" dial with the old-style "audemars piguet" stamped at the 12 o'clock. From what I can tell, there are fewer than 15 examples of with this dial configuration in the D-36___ case range, making it ultra rare. After that, the case numbers switch to the D-39___ range. Over a 10-ish year period they made around 50 of these platinum tourbillons with various dial configurations. In the mid 90's, AP switched their logo design to a more bold font, which I think is less elegant. Fun fact: this watch was manufactured in the early 90's but only sold in the mid 2000s - that means it was sitting in the AD's window for over 10 years - perhaps understandable given that the original MSRP was around 180,000 EUR.

It's about time that we start appreciating AP's incredible past. Even in the 90s they were making such phenomenal and unique watches. Too bad they will be making superhero watches with Marvel going forward ( jk jk I jest).






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[ChipotleBanana]

Holy shit. Congratulations! What an epic watch to have in the rotation. I've dreamt of seeing one of these for years.

[dauster]

that's amazing, lately there have been some truly special vintage pieces shared. so much more exciting than another 15500.
huge congrats.

[Burlington]

What a stunning piece - this is the kind of watch design that shows they can do so much more than octagonal cases.

Thanks for posting

[TooWoundUp]

Originally Posted by Burlington

What a stunning piece - this is the kind of watch design that shows they can do so much more than octagonal cases.

Thanks for posting

I know! They have so much heritage and yet they refuse to look back.

[TooWoundUp]

Originally Posted by ChipotleBanana

Holy shit. Congratulations! What an epic watch to have in the rotation. I've dreamt of seeing one of these for years.

A dream of mine too. I was in awe when I first saw it in the metal

[burakusta]

Epic

[ragsk]

Lovely !!

Congrats op

[TooWoundUp]

Originally Posted by burakusta

Epic

Thank you!

[TooWoundUp]

Originally Posted by ragsk

Lovely !!

Congrats op

Appreciate it!

[slawa]

The truly grail watch ,congrats, watch like this is a class by itself.

[1William]

Congratulations.

[TooWoundUp]

Originally Posted by slawa

The truly grail watch ,congrats, watch like this is a class by itself.

Wow thank you! Appreciate the kind words

[YFang]

Looks amazing!

[Heu]

Stunning! Congrats!