Welcome back to the Wind Up, your go-to resource for all things watch-related. Last week was dominated by the release of Tudor’s latest tool watch—a truly outstanding piece that has already been seen on many a wrist. This week’s releases are of the more complicated kind, with drops from Audemars Piguet, Breguet and Louis Moinet all reminding us of what the upper echelons of watchmaking can produce. Happy reading fellas!
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
- Brand: Audemars Piguet
- Model: Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
- Reference: Ref. 26586BA.OO.1240BA.99
- Diameter: 41mm
- Movement: Calibre 5133
- Power Reserve: 40 hours
- Water Resistance: 20m
- Availability: Limited to 88 pieces
- Price: Price on request
Made for the Chinese market and released in a super limited run of only 88 pieces, the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin reference 6586BA.OO.1240BA.99 is a marvel of modern watch design. For this new release, AP has extended the thinnest of profiles to a gold-on-gold colourway that beautifully ties in with the overall flow of the timepiece. As one of the thinnest Royal Oak perpetual calendar models, this unique reference provides a slimmer and more sporty feel than the traditional release, but make no mistake—you won’t miss it.
The glitzy new release is crafted entirely of 18k yellow gold, with classic brushed surfaces and polished accents highlighting the key features. Monochromatic by design, the new Royal Oak keeps the colour combinations simple, allowing the precious metal design to shine.
Further to this, AP has done away with the typical Grande Tapisserie dial, instead opting for a more solid look with some nice finishing touches like vertical brushing on the main dial. Elsewhere, the smaller sub-dials have a high gloss-like gleaming finish, with the gold aesthetic extending to the hour indices and hands, as well.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo x Laurent Grasso Edition
- Brand: Bulgari
- Model: Octo Finissimo x Laurent Grasso Edition
- Reference: Ref. 104005
- Diameter: 40mm
- Calibre: Calibre BVL 138
- Power Reserve: 60 hours
- Water Resistance: 30m
- Availability: Limited to 200 pieces
- Price: CHF18,900
If you thought the Royal Oak was thin, take a look at the Bulgari Octo Finissimo x Laurent Grasso Edition. Measuring 5.15mm in thickness (Okay, we’re comparing a time-only piece to a full-fledged perpetual calendar…), the Bulgari Octo Finissimo x Laurent Grasso Edition is wonderfully thin. But that’s not what you should be solely focusing on.
The Bulgari Octo Finissimo x Laurent Grasso Edition was made in collaboration with Laurent Grasso, a French conceptual artist who is famous for immersing viewers in an ‘uncanny world of uncertainty’. For this collaborative effort, the Paris-based artist has created an iridescent cloud that appears on the dial, playfully contrasting the blue PVD titanium case material.
Depicted against a brass PVD-coating dial is a screen-printed cloud made by the artist with metallic pigments. The look is as abstract and obscure as it is beautiful. One for the Octo Finissimo aficionado looking for something just that little bit more special.
Breguet Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887
- Brand: Breguet
- Model: Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887
- Reference: Ref. 5887PT/92/5WV
- Diameter: 43.90mm
- Calibre: Calibre 581DPE
- Power Reserve: 80 hours
- Water Resistance: 100m
- Price: CHF249,800
Just when you thought Breguet was done with 2024, the revered watchmaker drops a remarkable new timepiece that feels every bit a work of modern art. The latest Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887 fuses haute horlogerie magnificence with robust and rugged design, capturing the essence of the heritage brand’s ethos. Water resistant to 100 metres and set on a black rubber strap, this platinum masterpiece is designed to take on anything life throws at you
Within its 563-component movement is a tourbillon, an equation of time and a retrograde perpetual calendar. Let me remind you that this has a water-resistant rating of 100m. I think we should all just stop to appreciate exactly what Breguet has just released—Lowkey one of my favourite watches of the year. Just wow.
Louis Moinet Starman
- Brand: Louis Moinet
- Model: Starman
- Diameter: 47.50mm
- Calibre: Calibre LM139
- Power Reserve: 96 hours
- Water Resistance: 30m
- Availability: Limited to 12 pieces in each case material
- Price: CHF160,000
Finally, Louis Moinet rounds out this week’s review with the stunning new Starman. Available in either white or red gold, the Starman is the maison’s latest creation and combines the luxurious feel of a precious metal case with the unique nature of a meteorite dial.
A beautiful take on the celestial nature of time-keeping, the Starman has a certain old-world philosophy about it, despite the firmyl contemporary design language. From the dial with its meteorite, the allure of the Starman continues on the caseback. Set against a grey grid, you can see the planets of our Solar System surrounding the Sun, as viewed by Jean-Marie Schaller – owner and creative director of the Maison – on March 21, 2013. A pretty spectacular piece of engineering.
