Hello Heather,
Thank you for sending in this fine and rare wrist watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Very rare, Gent’s, octagonal, self-winding, water-resistant, 18k yellow gold wristwatch with date and an 18k yellow gold Audemars Piguet bracelet with deployant clasp (0944BA.01 bracelet), made in a limited Edition of 1000 pieces (65/1000), “Royal Oak Jumbo Jubilee, Automatic” model, Ref. 14802BA, case No. D12024-0065, made by Audemars, Piguet, Switzerland, circa 1993. Accompanied by the original fitted box and an Audemars Piguet Certificate of Origin and booklet.
PROVENANCE:
From Heather Denise Butler, Palmyra, Va., USA -“1992 each purchased in 1994 in New York Gallery. Appraised in 2007 for 36,600. Replacement value. Kept in box since. Serviced in 2007 for 1878.00 and kept in box since. Original papers still kept.”
DESCRIPTION:
CASE: 39 x 48 mm., Two leaf, polished and brushed 18k yellow gold, octagonal bezel set with 8 hexagonal nuts and embanked in 8 screws on the exhibition case back, angled lugs, sapphire crystals front and back, and fully integrated with an 18k yellow gold Audemars Piguet bracelet with trademarked deployant clasp.
DIAL: Anthracite (slate) colored round dial, Clous de Paris (tapisserie) decoration, applied luminous gold baton hour indices and applied gold Audemars Piguet logo at 12, outer white open-bar minute divisions, square aperture for the date @3. Luminous gold baton hands and the dial is signed in white print, “Audemars Piguet, Automatic” and “Swiss Made”.
MOVEMENT: This is the A/P Cal. 2121{originally created by Jaeger-LeCoultre and used by Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe, a rhodium-plated, damascene decorated, 36 jewel, straight line lever escapement, Gyromax balance adjusted for heat, cold, isochronism and 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating flat balance spring, 21K gold rotor with the dial, case and movement triple signed.
CONDITION:
Case/Bracelet – Near mint
Dial – Excellent
Movement – Original, genuine and functional. Excellent condition.
HISTORICAL NOTES (Taken from Hodinkee website):
The Royal Oak was designed by the not-yet-famous watch designer Gerald Genta in 1971 and was released to the public in 1972 at Baselworld. The Royal Oak was groundbreaking for Audemars Piguet at the time, as it was the brand's first sports-luxury wristwatch and the design itself was quite avant garde. The name "Royal Oak" came from a historical tree in England where King Charles II hid from Cromwell’s army in 1651. That tree ended up saving King Charles’s life and became a historic political English symbol. The name was applied to no fewer than four British naval ships between 1769 and 1914, which is where the wristwatch comes into play. The octagonal bezel was inspired by the porthole of a naval ship, hence the name Royal Oak. Additionally, Audemars Piguet liked the name because of its "royal prestige and longevity." . . . .It was 1992 when AP released the reference 14802 with sapphire crystal case back in a limited series of 1,000 pieces total, for the Jumbo ref. 5402's 20th anniversary. There were 700 in steel (with blue or pink tapisserie dial), 280 in yellow gold (with ardoise (slate), gilt, white, or ivory tapisserie dials), and 20 in platinum (with dark blue or Tuscany blue tapisserie dials, the former with diamond indexes). The 1992 anniversary ref. 14802 was sold all the way up until the year 2000.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/53602146_audemars-piguet-royal-oak-jubilee-gents-wristwatch (sold in 2017 for 19000 Euros = $ 21,717)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/audemars-piguet-ExNOZnRxgb
(In stainless steel with salmon dial sold for $60000)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/audemars-piguet-an-extremely-rare-and-attractive-platinum-limited-vzph2FzkrJ (very rarely seen platinum case and silvered textured dial sold for $112000 in 2016)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/audemars-piguet-a-very-fine-stainless-steel-automatic-wristwatch-NhaaSCK6K (stainless steel with salmon dial sold in 2017 for $28800)
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/audemars-piguet-royal-oak-jubilee-montre-bracelet-341-c-3494ab99d0# (steel case with salmon dial sold in 2019 for $60,000 (same as CHF or Swiss francs)
PRICING:
This model reference in all of its variations have become quite sought after, and are difficult to find. Your watch was “Appraised in 2007 for 36,600. Replacement value (meaning a retail replacement value or value you would use to insure it). We provided ONLY fair market values on this website although if you double that you will be in the retail range. Your gold example has not been sold recently on the open market, but I have to believe that on the auction market it would probably fetch $40,000 (fair market value) which would suggest a retail replacement value somewhere in the $80000+ range.
I hope that helps you with the value of this fine watch in today’s marketplace. Some of the upper end watches, such as yours have suddenly taken off, some after lying dormant for a decade or more. Keep this gold fellow in good condition and it will continue to grow, as long as we have a world for it to grow in. Thank you for choosing mearto.com for the appraisal. I enjoyed doing this for you.
My best,
David