The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin ref. 15202ST.OO.1240ST.01 is as close as you would get nowadays to the feeling of owning the iconic Royal Oak Jumbo ref. 5402ST from 1972. While this redesigned Jumbo maintains the sleek lines of the other Jumbos and most of the core elements present in the ref. 5402, there are subtle differences that are worth discussing.
The new Jumbo, referred to as Extra-Thin by Audemars Piguet, is fitted with a sapphire crystal display case back just like the previous Jumbo ref. 15202. The original Jumbo 5402 from 1972 featured a unique monoblock case design, making it even thinner and more sleek.
Just like on all other Royal Oak Jumbos, the Extra-Thin Royal Oak features the legendary Audemars Piguet Calibre 2121 with a pullout crown and non-quick-set calendar mechanism with the date aperture at 3 o'clock. This calibre is the thinnest automatic selfwinding movement —with a central rotor— ever made. It provides a power-reserve of 40 hours and includes 247 parts with 36 jewels.
One great advantage of the Audemars Piguet legendary calibre 2121 —over other vintage calibres in the industry— is that while it doesn't feature a quick-set calendar mechanism, it does have what is called a rapid-advance calendar system. With this rapid-advance system, the date can be set easily by advancing the hands past midnight all the way to 2 am and then moving them back to 10pm in order to advance the date wheel without the need to go around a full 24-hours for each date adjustment.
Today, Audemars Piguet offers the option to get a custom decorated/personalized rotor —oscillating weight— upon request with a small premium associated to it. Well worth it in our opinion. The Audemars Piguet calibre 2121 is composed of 247 parts and 36 jewels and is one of the few movements to beat at a frequency of 19,800 vph —2.75 Hz.
Something worth mentioning about this watch, is that because of the display case back, this reference is slightly thicker than the original Jumbo ref. 5402. The difference is really millimetric but noticeable by watchlifestylers that own the original model. In our opinion, the increase in thickness is worth having the ability to contemplate the beauty of calibre 2121.
The dial on this new model is the blue 'petite tapisserie' with an almost perfectly identical hue of blue like on the original Royal Oak Jumbo with double batons at 12 and the AP logo at 6 o'clock. Something quite different between the Extra-Thin ref. 15202 and the Jumbo 5402, is that the calendar wheel on the first one matches the color of the dial, while on the latter it was white. Also, the fonts on the calendar wheel and the dial are different between the two of them.
The bracelet is extremely comfortable and slightly thicker than on ref. 5402 but still thinner than the bracelet on ref. 15300 or 15400. The double folding clasp —with side push buttons and AP logo— on this bracelet, has the exact same design and functionality as the one on the last batch of ref. 15300s and on the 15400s.
In summary, the new Extra-Thin is a perfect execution of the original Jumbo of 1972, with the same sleek design, character and personality that has also been present in vintage advertising and communication materials from the brand. The copy on one of our favorite vintage Royal Oak ads mentions: "It Takes More Than Money to Wear a Royal Oak". Really, we couldn't agree more with that statement.
Sticker Price $22,500. For more info on this iconic watch click here.
