For ninety-five years, this watch passed quietly from one generation to the next whilst the world around it changed beyond recognition. Only in 2022 did it emerge publicly for the first time, consigned directly by the descendants of its original owner. Its provenance is important. Its place within the history of complicated wristwatches is even more so.
By the mid-1920s, the wristwatch was still establishing itself as the dominant form of personal timekeeping. Whilst calendar complications had long existed in pocket watches, miniaturising them into a reliable wristwatch demanded a level of technical ingenuity that only a handful of manufactures could achieve. Audemars Piguet was among the very first to succeed.
These early calendar wristwatches also represent a fascinating moment in horological history. Before reference numbers, standardised collections and industrial production became the norm, complicated wristwatches were produced in exceptionally small numbers, often with individual combinations of metals, dial layouts and retailer signatures. Each was closer to a bespoke creation than a catalogue model, reflecting an era when even the world's greatest manufactures were still defining what the complicated wristwatch could become.
In 1924, Audemars Piguet completed one of its earliest complete calendar wristwatches with moon phases, marking the beginning of a remarkably small production that would become one of the most fascinating chapters in its history. Powered predominantly by the manually wound calibre 10GHSM, these watches displayed the day, date, month and moon phases within elegantly proportioned rectangular cases. Our study suggests that only around forty-eight examples of this early family were produced, whilst we believe that Audemars Piguet manufactured just 176 non-perpetual calendar wristwatches between 1924 and 1967.
It is also important to distinguish these watches from the perpetual calendars that would later define high-end complicated watchmaking. A complete calendar displays the day, date, month and moon phases but requires manual correction at the end of months with fewer than 31 days. A perpetual calendar performs those adjustments automatically. Although technically different, these early complete calendars represent one of the essential stepping stones in the evolution of the complicated wristwatch.
Within that already exclusive early family, however, the present watch stands apart. Other surviving early Audemars Piguet complete calendars are known in white gold, yellow gold, and two-tone configurations. The present watch, however, was made in platinum. Research undertaken when it first appeared publicly identified it as uniquely known in this configuration, and to date no second platinum example of this early complete calendar wristwatch has come to surface the market.
Measuring approximately 25.5 × 36 mm, the case combines elegant rectangular proportions with gently curved tortue lines. The restrained silvered dial is fitted with applied Breguet numerals and an exceptionally balanced display including three subsidiary dials that indicate the date, day and month, whilst the moon-phase aperture completes one of the earliest and most sophisticated wristwatch calendar layouts of its era. Inside is Audemars Piguet's manually wound calibre 10GHSM, featuring 18 jewels, eight adjustments, a bimetallic balance and Côtes de Genève decoration. It is a movement that perfectly reflects the manufacture's technical ambition during this formative period of wristwatch production.
A Remarkable Parallel
For those who follow the highest level of vintage Audemars Piguet collecting, the significance of this platinum calendar immediately recalls another extraordinary watch that surfaced only months ago.
In May 2026, Christie’s Geneva presented a unique known to exist platinum Audemars Piguet “Coussin Tortue” single-button chronograph, movement circa 1930, another mythical creation from the formative years of the complicated wristwatch. It realised CHF 2,134,000.
The parallels between the two watches are striking.
Both were created by Audemars Piguet at the very beginning of complicated wristwatch production. Both belong to extraordinarily small families of watches made decades before complicated wristwatches became established categories. Both survived for generations away from the public market. And, crucially, both represent the only known example of their particular type executed in platinum.
For Monaco Legend, that result provides an important contemporary perspective through which to consider the present calendar. It would be misleading to judge this 1927 platinum complete calendar simply against other surviving examples of the same calendar made in yellow gold, white gold or two-tone cases. Its more meaningful peers are the exceptional, unique early complicated Audemars Piguet wristwatches that represent milestones in the manufacture’s history.
The Christie’s monopusher and the present calendar express two different complications, but their historical position is remarkably similar: one represents the earliest chapter of Audemars Piguet’s wrist chronographs; the other belongs to the pioneering chapter of its complete-calendar wristwatches with moon phases.
And in each case, platinum transforms an already exceptionally rare early complication into something apparently unique.
According to the Audemars Piguet archives, the watch was sold in 1927 to Egouvillon Lafont & Cie for Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris. This information clearly justifies why on the dial the watch bears the designation “Importe de Suisse” meaning “Imported from Switzerland”. That single archive entry places it within the world of one of the twentieth century's great jewellers, whilst also reminding us how differently the Swiss watch industry operated during this period. Rather than selling directly to clients, manufactures frequently supplied prestigious retailers who served an international clientele.
The watch then disappeared from public view for almost a century, remaining with the family of its original owner until its first appearance at auction in 2022. Offered by Art Curial auction house directly from the family, it was immediately recognised for its significance as the only known platinum example to have ever surfaced.
This October, Monaco Legend Group has the privilege of presenting it once again, marking only the second time it has changed hands outside the original family in its ninety-nine-year history.
As Davide Parmegiani explains:
"Collectors naturally think of perpetual calendars when discussing important vintage calendar watches. But before that chapter was written, Audemars Piguet was already producing remarkably sophisticated complete calendar wristwatches, before anyone else. These watches belong to the very beginning of complicated wristwatch production, and that is precisely what makes them so historically significant."
Yet perhaps the watch's greatest distinction is not technical at all. Many important vintage watches have passed through dealers, collectors and auction rooms countless times over the decades. This one did not. For almost its entire existence, it remained with the family that acquired it new in 1927. That uninterrupted provenance offers a direct connection to the world in which it was created, something that becomes increasingly rare with every passing generation.
This timepiece is not simply an exceptional object; it is a reference point in the evolution of twentieth-century watchmaking. On 31 October and 1 November 2026, it will once again begin a new chapter in its remarkable story.
