50th Anniversary 26240!

[jkesquire]

Quick backstory....I have a small purchase history with my local AP boutique including a 15400st, 26331st, and a 26405ce...and I am currently waiting for a 34mm RO for the wife. I am by no means a "whale" but I spend a good amount of time popping into my AD and talking AP and watches in general with them. By now they know how much I appreciate the brand. I may go so far as to call it a moderate obsession.

6 weeks ago I sat down with my sales associate and went over 10 of the 50th anniversary pieces that I liked. I quickly redlined the pieces I knew I could never get which was funny in itself. A holy grail for me has always been the 26320RO full rose with black dial RO Chrono. Back when it came out I was not in a position to buy it, but I always lusted for it. I told my sales associate that was the piece I would love to own. I also told him that it didn't matter to me if it was for the 50th anniversary, or later on, I just wanted to register my interest.

I was advised that if I was willing to buy the 26240ro on the leather strap, and also commit to buying the gold bracelet from AP, I would have a shot at a 50th anniversary version. The version that comes on the rose bracelet was already spoken for, for the year! I did some quick math and realized that this route would cost me a few thousand more, and would give me a shot at a 50th anny version. I quickly obliged, and literally one month later I got the call. I swapped the leather for a rubber strap thinking the bracelet would take a few months to arrive. The bracelet arrived two weeks later and yesterday I had them swap out the rubber for the gold. I now have a grail piece, and it happens to be a 50th anny piece. I am extremely grateful as this is my first precious metal piece, and it will be a permanent part of my collection!

[DonLee]

beautiful piece! congrats!

[only1swami]

amazing! congratulations and wear in the best of health!

we need that rotor, sunlight shot, and wrist roll :-p

[GW44]

Good work. Nice to hear a plan that comes together!

[squall1]

Congrats, actually love it on the leather and rubber too. Wear in good health!

[Seddyspaghetti]

Nice congrats

[jkesquire]

Originally Posted by only1swami

amazing! congratulations and wear in the best of health!

we need that rotor, sunlight shot, and wrist roll :-p

Here ya go!

[Spin27]

Absolutely stunning! Congrats!

[Mini2]

3 watches for the price of one BEAUTIFUL

[raclaims]

Sweeeeeet!!!! congrats

[a.f]

Congrats! Smart move and seems like a great way to get multiple "personalities" out of the same piece

[gretch6364]

Absolutely killer and big congrats! You say you are not a whale, but buying three watches from the same boutique and likely still having all of them, shows your love for the brand and you are exactly who AP should be and seems to be after to allocate special pieces.

I don't know if it is just the size constraint, timing, or tradition that has kept AP from coming out with the quick detach plots for the RO, but if/when they do (they can easily be retrofitted it seems), how much even more awesome does this piece come with you can change the bracelet and strap yourself in seconds without ever damaging the watch?

[jkesquire]

Originally Posted by gretch6364

Absolutely killer and big congrats! You say you are not a whale, but buying three watches from the same boutique and likely still having all of them, shows your love for the brand and you are exactly who AP should be and seems to be after to allocate special pieces.

I don't know if it is just the size constraint, timing, or tradition that has kept AP from coming out with the quick detach plots for the RO, but if/when they do (they can easily be retrofitted it seems), how much even more awesome does this piece come with you can change the bracelet and strap yourself in seconds without ever damaging the watch?

Thank you!!

I probably think about this a few times a week. I would've LOVED if I had the ability to swap the straps out in a flash by myself. The other side of that argument is that each time I go in to have them do it, its more facetime in the boutique, a reminder that I wear my watches, and further conversations about more pieces in the future

[CoveWatch]

Damn thats nice! Congrats on that amazing RO!

[VogelPhoenix]

Nice! The bracelet is of course awesome, but I wouldn't mind sticking with rubber, in particular with a few other ROs on bracelet in the collection.

[Aplover5]

Wow that’s just beautiful.

[RolLee]

So nice. Congrats!

[7sins]

congrats!

[Ashj52]

Damn that looks so so good! Congrats!

[LVx2]

That worked out well! Three wear options and the 50th rotor too. Good one.

[SoylentGreenChi]

Damn fine. Thank you for sharing with us - loved the photos and the backstory. What a watch!

[gregouille]

Tried it and loved it. Great choice! Enjoy

[crispyness87]

Beautiful! The RG is really luxurious on a ROC.

Is this a black dial?

[maecenas]

You know, when I first came into this thread, I wasn’t very excited. I’m not big into gold watches, and though, “eh, just a gold chrono”. But looking at the pictures, plus your story, I have to say I came around, and wow, this really is a great piece. From the leather to the bracelet, and that dial color… very nice. Congrats, and thanks for sharing!

[KBM]

Congrats on making it yours! Enjoy!

[jkesquire]

Originally Posted by maecenas

You know, when I first came into this thread, I wasn’t very excited. I’m not big into gold watches, and though, “eh, just a gold chrono”. But looking at the pictures, plus your story, I have to say I came around, and wow, this really is a great piece. From the leather to the bracelet, and that dial color… very nice. Congrats, and thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I'm happy I was able to sway you :)

[Horsin’ Around]

Congratulations OP.

For those of you lucky enough to be allocated a 50th anniversary piece, do you think is one and done for the year?

Or do you think you will be offered multiple anniversary pieces this year?

My AD has hinted that I will likely get a 50th anniversary soon. But I am still building my AP collection and would like to get multiple pieces this year.

Do you think it’s possible to get multiple anniversary pieces?


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[VogelPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Horsin’ Around

Congratulations OP.

For those of you lucky enough to be allocated a 50th anniversary piece, do you think is one and done for the year?

Or do you think you will be offered multiple anniversary pieces this year?

My AD has hinted that I will likely get a 50th anniversary soon. But I am still building my AP collection and would like to get multiple pieces this year.

Well, there's always CODEs and ROOs if you'd like more pieces