A book for all AP lovers

[daveo5]

I received my copy the "Royal Oak" last week. This is the work of AP in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak. This is a large book designed for the coffee table, and covering the years 1972 to 2012. It starts with the beginnings of AP then moves on to specific dates in the history of AP. It has superb photographs of AP models. There is a photograph of hand written(!) AP ledgers beginning with the first RO. They use a different model RO/ROC to highlight the introduction of model and year. You have a photo of the first RO and the year 1972. I can say that this a must for AP fans. It ships from Geneva for $185.00 USD. Just an example of a specific date: 1973 the manufacture AP comprises a 70 strong staff and an annual production of 8,000 watches.

[L.W.C]

Originally Posted by daveo5

I received my copy the "Royal Oak" last week. This is the work of AP in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak. This is a large book designed for the coffee table, and covering the years 1972 to 2012. It starts with the beginnings of AP then moves on to specific dates in the history of AP. It has superb photographs of AP models. There is a photograph of hand written(!) AP ledgers beginning with the first RO. They use a different model RO/ROC to highlight the introduction of model and year. You have a photo of the first RO and the year 1972. I can say that this a must for AP fans. It ships from Geneva for $185.00 USD. Just an example of a specific date: 1973 the manufacture AP comprises a 70 strong staff and an annual production of 8,000 watches.

Hi, where can I order the book from? and can you pls send a photo of the front cover. Cheers

[Ziperian]

Good information and summary.

[wiswrist]

I'm pretty sure the OP is talking about this book ...



It's a very nice book. I was gifted a copy at the 40th anniversary party for the RO in 2012 at the Park Ave Armory in NYC.

[singe89]

Have many AP books from events over the years and this one is by far the best. Was gifted on my visit to Le Brassus. Has a prominent spot on the coffee table in my office while all the others are on the bookshelf. Well worth $185 and gives so much insight to the amazing history of AP and the Royal Oak.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by L.W.C

Hi, where can I order the book from? and can you pls send a photo of the front cover. Cheers

eBay. Its out of print now AFAIK.

Some AD's have them though. Wempe has one in their book case for customers to look at but the one they have was never for sale and it was just something for people to read when they were in the shop. Stop by and they might give it to you(or let you buy it) as they are not selling AP after the end of the year.

[daveo5]

The book I received, somebody all ready has posted a front/back covers photo. I ordered mine through Amazon, direct from Geneva. They told me that they only had 10 copies. Minus 1 for my order. It is out of print as someone has stated.

[csquared317]

They are tough to find, took me a while to locate one, but I got mine at a watch accessories store. They only had one, even the boutiques don't carry them anymore.

[L.W.C]

Originally Posted by rac10000

I'm pretty sure the OP is talking about this book ...



It's a very nice book. I was gifted a copy at the 40th anniversary party for the RO in 2012 at the Park Ave Armory in NYC.

Cheers

[L.W.C]

Thank you all for the input found it on amazon as well

[L.W.C]

Originally Posted by daveo5

The book I received, somebody all ready has posted a front/back covers photo. I ordered mine through Amazon, direct from Geneva. They told me that they only had 10 copies. Minus 1 for my order. It is out of print as someone has stated.

Now it should be 8

[L.W.C]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

eBay. Its out of print now AFAIK.

Some AD's have them though. Wempe has one in their book case for customers to look at but the one they have was never for sale and it was just something for people to read when they were in the shop. Stop by and they might give it to you(or let you buy it) as they are not selling AP after the end of the year.

Nice to see a fellow local watch collector dealing with wempe I prefer them over WOS

[L.W.C]

The AP RO book will soon stand proudly next to the others

[OP15]

Thanks for the info! 6 left, now.

[MrPorter_008]

I was gifted one when I purchased the Jumbo, love the book!

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by OP15

Thanks for the info! 6 left, now.

4 left now.

I have no idea how this seller got so many as they usually are not on amazon as i had periodically checked for a couple of years now and this is by far the most available at one time. Strange.

[tyler1980]

Just an update... they restocked and are back up to 10. So this seems shady, so maybe its a reproduction or another edition. No way they had 10 and then sold them and now have 10 more. I would bet its not the same book people got at the 40th anniversary when it was released.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by daveo5

The book I received, somebody all ready has posted a front/back covers photo. I ordered mine through Amazon, direct from Geneva. They told me that they only had 10 copies. Minus 1 for my order. It is out of print as someone has stated.

they lied obviously... see above

[OP15]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

they lied obviously... see above

Hmmm...uh oh. That does seem very shady. Would love to hear people’s thoughts once they start receiving the book.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by OP15

Hmmm...uh oh. That does seem very shady. Would love to hear people’s thoughts once they start receiving the book.

its a $200 book so there is profit in faking them. How much would it cost to take a real book to a professional printer and make more? Probably not a lot. Its easier to fake a book than a watch.

If the content is the same, will people care?

Just speculating but this is what it looks like to me as i tried and failed to find one for a while and now the market is flooded with them.
"used" ones are selling from $748 to $361 and they are selling new ones for less than $200.

[OP15]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

its a $200 book so there is profit in faking them. How much would it cost to take a real book to a professional printer and make more? Probably not a lot. Its easier to fake a book than a watch.

If the content is the same, will people care?

Just speculating but this is what it looks like to me as i tried and failed to find one for a while and now the market is flooded with them.
"used" ones are selling from $748 to $361 and they are selling new ones for less than $200.

I clearly haven’t researched it enough. And I guess I’ll never know if the content is the same, as I don’t know anyone with the book (real or otherwise).

[docmfg]

I ordered one through Amazon and FWIW according to seller’s description on Amazon website they are a publisher and an on site book store at Basel and SIHH. They sell the same book for slightly less based on current conversion on their website and they seem to have a good catalog.
http://www.watchprint.com/detail_en....pID=watchprint



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[L.W.C]

I’ll keep you guys posted once they reply.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by L.W.C

I’ll keep you guys posted once they reply.

i would just be curious to know why after 6 years they are back and available again. Pretty sure im not the only one who has looked and not found this book before. Its kind of a unicorn, or at least is has been.

If its legit as it may well be, its got to be a second edition if its back in print.

[daveo5]

Watchprint is the company I ordered from through Amazon. They are handle over 800 books. My copy came from them. There is no information: copy rite date, library code(s). The book was printed in Belgium for AP in honor of the 40th anniversary which was 2012.

[Sporkmaker]

I got mine from the same seller at the same price, back in January I think. I don't see anything indicating that it's not legit. I suspect that the simple answer is that there is a case or three of these sitting in a warehouse somewhere and the seller has access to them.

If I had to guess, I'd say they are possibly genuine copies that were originally considered seconds and not distributed, but with flaws that are so small nobody is really going to notice. For example, when mine is sitting on the coffee table front cover up, the title on the spine is upside down. That's probably all it is.

[SC11]

Watchprint is a known seller of watch books etc so wouldn’t have any concerns.

Plus order directly it’s a fair bit cheaper! (Well for me in the UK it is)

[P2725TMB]

Originally Posted by Sporkmaker

For example, when mine is sitting on the coffee table front cover up, the title on the spine is upside down. That's probably all it is.

I think all AP catalogues and books are like that. I don’t know why, as I think it looks very odd. An AL&S catalogue i have is also thus designed, so maybe its a Swiss thing.

[L.W.C]

[AshAP]

In my opinion the AP book printed by Flammarion is a better book in terms of content. The Royal Oak book may be a more suitable coffee table book, if you’re into that kind of thing, but the content is a bit dull. JMO.


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