Inside The Archives With Audemars Piguet

To me, vintage Audemars Piguet is one of the most exciting, underappreciated, and beautiful categories of watches to study and collect. Today, we've prepared for you a highly detailed recap of a full day that we spent with the team at Audemars Piguet digging through some of their most important and beautiful early-20th-century pieces. Included in the video above and the story below are some absolutely mind-blowing early grand complication pocket watches, super slim minute repeaters, and seriously the most beautiful chronographs I've ever seen. In fact, I would venture to guess that many of you did not even know AP made watches like what you're about to see at any point, and I have no doubt in my mind you will be left duly impressed. Let's get into it. For more, go to www.hodinkee.co...

[@ianttha1niqua424]

"If you open de watch, you'll cry..."
Lmao!! Love it!!

[@lkkjhtemmexv1838]

AWSOMEEE

[@HugoCoolDude]

Mikey G l

[@ReindeerD]

somehow i dony doubt it

[@Sturnburn772]

Great to see why AP is great before the Royal Oak came into existence.

[@srivatsakumar2844]

"continuing to produce new things"
*makes more royal oaks*

[@pavelrazamazov2672]

5516 is just stunning! 😳

[@fernandomelgar892]

This is the Audemars I fell in love with.

[@THX-C]

The tones for the minute repeaters was beautiful.

[@tiffanywalker6573]

Unbelievable watches! I have a new found respect for Audemars Piguet!

[@RH-vd3yu]

The more older i get the more my taste for watches changes. Used to be divers, steel sport watches. Now, i prefer dress watches 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@jmbaug1229]

Pure Horology!!! Amazing!!!

[@jerrybronham]

Wish AP would go back to these type of watches instead of the royal oaks

[@BobbyDazzler888]

exactly

[@shadimagdy8196]

Would love if they produce some these watches back!

[@CokeWithIceAndLemon]

I really can’t see the appeal of the Royal Oak i swear i am not an anti mainstream guy, but really for that price i just cant see it, these watches in this video are why we and our fathers and grandfathers love mechanical watches.

[@dipro001]

How did these elegant pieces came to be forgotten for a bunch of shiny Royal Oaks?

[@Macca-95]

Back when AP deserved to be in the big 3.

[@igotnoideawhattoput]

I like how these two guys spent the entire length of the video romanticising the good old days and forget to mention AP's most popular offering is the RO Offshore, a watch so tasteless and gaudy it is literally the opposite of class.

[@aryamansinha9309]

Very true. Even gerald genta who designed the original Royal Oak hated the Offshore

[@unicyclemaster470]

Looks better than the 10-pound gold stop sign that is AP today

[@theplasticdesert2408]

Great video, such beautiful complications. Please don't spoil it by mentioning Archie Luxury and his Big W $12 business shirts and fake luxury luggage.

[@richardburns9772]

Man on the mooooooooooooon, you fucker!

[@mikejones-dx8bx]

and why would hodinkee mention him?

[@drizztdourden5291]

Then you had to mention him.

[@mikejones-dx8bx]

my god what beauty!

[@statusparanoia]

I love that neither of them, and certainly not the guy on the right, appear to be wearing an RO. AP at it's best.

[@gh778]

Wish they would do the complicated dress watches again. Such a shame that everything needs to be a Royal Oak now. Not surprised that they have gained popularity in pop-culture with their bulky, iced out pieces

[@SkywhiteChannel]

The worst thing that happened to AP is the Royal Oak Offshore. Funny how they don’t mention it. It’s a contradiction in execution. Tiny movement With a huge case.

[@samuellongdon9932]

I love this channel

[@joeyalfaro2323]

Back when I was little Everytime someone bought furniture they gave you gold looking pocket watch. I would always ask for watch and beat the hell out it over wind it then lose it. Hope somebody was buying furniture to get free watch.

[@risshenraj1055]

Look how hard they’re trying to show that audemars piguet can make things other than more royal oaks

[@jsnadrian]

i had no idea audemars used to make beautiful, elegant watches. i thought it was just chunky, ugly royal oaks!

[@nottavictim5]

If I ever buy an AP it will be a Vintage/Antique

[@giokakhniashvili9072]

Interesting video, interesting watches..however video is not HODINKEE style, I mean filming..

[@danielhan4384]

what is a n 8 line movement?

[@hugoj1129]

2:14 this guy is going to be baffled when he learns about microchips

[@EDUTAMARIU]

Trust me, even the best watchmakers today with micron precision cnc machining, computer design, and all the aids possible would have a really hard time replicating some of these tiny movements that are 100 years old, comparing it to microchips is comparing apples to oranges

[@hugoj1129]

EDU M it was a play on the fact that you can program something much smaller to do a lot more, not a criticism of the watch

[@andivalentinus2912]

Stars and stripes in front of AP HQ

[@michaelr2957]

Hi my full name is 12 letters too will do it too😁👍

[@MrBeard-et1yi]

😍

[@danielhan4384]

grand sonarireee

[@alvinkoh5556]

AP made much prettier watches those days. Today its image is dominated by Royal Oak...boring!

[@danielhan4384]

after ap what are the other underappreciate brands?

[@pradeep_sekar]

Daniel Han AP is one of the holy trinity... its not underappreciated at all... those would be Vacheron, breguet, blancpain, longines etc...

[@irishbargamento7793]

This is Fancy Watches

[@geraldbrienza4474]

Ok, we have the royal oak, let’s nap 😴........

[@alexandruflorianturda5379]

Best alive!!!!!!!😍😍🔥🔥🔥🙊🙊😻😻🙉🙉🙈🙈😈😈😈

[@cfauvel]

ignorant here....what is the quartz crisis?

[@erikengardt8252]

CFauvel
When seiko started making quartz watches they pretty much crippled the whole industry because they were so cheap. Google royal oak history, pretty much why the swiss industry still exists. Pretty cool

[@toxic_lmp2364]

I'm a piguet

[@mikejones-dx8bx]

i'm guet for piguet

[@ABH313]

I can respect these time pieces but I'm sry to say most of them were ugly as hell :(

[@mikejones-dx8bx]

you are clearly blind. sorry they aren't 44mm monstrosities with chunky bezels and crown guards.

[@thoresol]

They need to make a smartwatch...

[@pradeep_sekar]

Thoreenz Soldevilla yea right