
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Audemars Piguet Calatrava 18K YG Cal. 18C, 1960s
- Maker / attribution
- Audemars Piguet (maker)
- Date
- 1960s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 35 mm
- Stock no.
- APC18C
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (APC18C)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 1960s Audemars Piguet Calatrava 18K YG Cal. 18C (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number APC18C), this is a wristwatch by Audemars Piguet, made in Switzerland, dated 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 35 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Craft & Tailored
Although Audemars Piguet may be best known for their Royal Oak series, notably designed by Gerald Genta, the brand has had a long lineage of interesting timepieces both before the conceptualization of the Royal Oak and after. Primarily consisting of precious metals, Audemars Piguet produced some highly collectible chronographs and dress models, many of which were stylistically very ahead of their time. Stock # APC18C Brand Audemars Piguet Style Calatrava Model Cal. 18C Serial 17XXX Size Men's Material 18K YG Dial White Millimeters 35 Strap Audemars Piguet Patent Crocodile Leather Strap W/ 18k Yellow Gold Buckle CASE & BRACELET At first glance, you might mistake this as just any other Calatrava-style case, but the devil is in the details. The 18k yellow gold case measures in at 35mm, with a lightly sloped bezel and small, ridged crown fit flush to the wall of the case. That wall, upon closer inspection, becomes our first detail. In a beautiful piece of design, the mid-case recedes ever so slightly so that the top and bottom of the case hangover. Besides creating a simple and elegant bit of contrast, this recession also allows for the anchoring of the second detail. This AP features a stunning set of angled lugs that somehow feel simultaneously velvet soft and sword sharp. The watch is supplied on a 2pc Audemars Piguet patent crocodile leather strap and 18k yellow gold buckle. DIAL & HANDS The metallic white dial is classic and perfectly preserved. Thin gold hour markers are matched by gold pencil hands. The dial is perfectly balanced, even down to its textual spacing. No dial could have done more with as little. ACCESSORIES
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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