Audemars Piguet Platinum 'Tank', Circa 1950s

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

The year 1972 was the advent of what is undeniably Audemars Piguet's most famous, significant, and yes, iconic line of watches, the Royal Oak. It was also the year that the 'high-end dress watch' would forever change. Prior to 1972, ultra-thin and design-focused precious metal watches represented the pinnacle of the genre, not what appears to be an industrial-styled stainless steel sports watch with a bracelet. While the brand never stopped producing traditional dress watches, per-se, production of their new golden goose would dominate the rest of the lineup. And this is after considering that prior to the Royal Oak, AP made far fewer watches to start with... The piece that we have here is one of those pre-Royal Oak era watches. Without an official model name, this 'Tank'-style piece is something very special indeed. Dating to circa 1958, the case comes in at a wonderfully-sized 24mm x 30mm and is crafted out of platinum! The 'stepped' bezel sits on the mid-case, which features rounded lugs that gently curve downward making for a fantastic feel on the wrist. The silver dial inside is very of-its-era, with simple printed "Audemars Piguet" script, 'elongated' indices, and a 'pencil' handset to match. This svelte piece is powered by AP's Calibre 2003 manual-winding movement and is fitted to a white gold 'woven' bracelet with a locking clasp. This then, is a representation of a bygone era not just for Audemars Piguet, but for what a high-end dress watch used to be. Only in the last few years have collectors and enthusiasts alike started to pay a bit more attention to pieces like these and, we think, its long overdue.