Continuing with the series where we showcase some of the most impressive and versatile watch collections in the world, this is the time to share with you a watch collection mainly composed of Audemars Piguet timepieces. Since often, it is quite common to find that watch collectors happen to also be collectors of many other objects of desire; call it writing instruments, lighters, banknotes, coins, stamps, fragrances, bags, shoes or automobiles, just to name a few, it is no surprise that this AP watch collection ended up taking the backseat as we were blown away by an even more impressive car collection —mostly Porsches— and one of the world's largest diecast scale 1:18 and 1:12 cars also in possession of this watch collector.
At a private location we are not allowed to disclose, and surrounded by an impressive entourage, we were greeted by this watch collector wearing his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello II in platinum of which only 150 pieces were ever made.
Before heading straight to see his watches, he asked us if we wanted to take a look at his car collection, to which of course, we obliged. Without even imagining what were in store for, we headed over to his garage, that honestly looked more like a car dealership showroom than a garage itself. Cars upon cars, upon cars, we walked around to slowly discover his fast and furious road jewels fully detailed for the occasion.
To our surprise, this was no average car collection but a 30 plus automobile collection mainly focused on Porsches and Bimmers but that it also included a McLaren 12C, a Lamborghini Murcielago, a vintage Mustang Shelby Cobra, a Mercedes-Benz Gullwing SLS Brabus B63 AMG, a BMW i8, a factory bulletproof Rolls Royce Silver Spur and a factory bulletproof Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL from the 1980s, amongst others.
With the Porsche collection spanning all the way from one of the very first 911s, to a dozen iconic 911s in between, a couple of Turbos, two GT3 RS and a GT3, this was just the beginning of an unforgettable day with watches and the good life.
Now, as far as the BMWs go, we paid close attention to a 30th Anniversary M5, an original E30 M3, a Z3 M Coupe, a M5 Competition Edition and a 'Shark' 850il. In all, a fantastic collection of German cars for those like us that love Porsche and those of you that are BMW fanatics.
Finally after drooling non-stop over the car collection, this fine collector said: "and I also happen to have one of the largest collections of diecast scale car models, do you want to check it out?". After seeing the cars, how could we say no.
Carefully nested in lighted up vitrines and with a full time employee that cleans them on daily basis, the diecast scale 1:18 and 1:12 cars were simply something we've never witnessed before. Just like kids in a candy store, we walked around the vitrines just as if we were visiting a museum filled with the finest specimens of diecast cars.
After about another 30 minutes walking around the diecast scale car collection and after checking out his collection of "Official Banknotes of Every Nation" and his Montblanc limited edition pens, we then finally headed to take a look at was supposed to also be a very impressive watch collection from what we have heard.
While the watch collection included much more than Audemars Piguet timepieces with dozens of Rolexes, Hublots, Jaeger-LeCoultre and a couple of watches from very small independent brands, considering the importance and relevance of the AP watches in his collection, we decided to solely focus on one brand.
And just as if his car and diecast scale car collection had not been impressive enough and a huge surprise for us, this watch collector had a few couple more surprises in store for us. Pulling out an ultra special three-column wheel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher —which we reviewed here— with a $230,000 USD price tag along with an ultra rare and discontinued Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One priced at $336,800 USD set the bar quite high for what would follow.
After already blowing our socks off with those two first watches and everything else we had already enjoyed, he started pulling out the rest of his AP watches which included tons and tons of Royal Oak Offshore limited edition watches.
Finally, after playing with more than twenty very special APs in his collection, we decided to take some pictures and do a group shot of all the Audemars Piguet watches in his collection.
Below, we are highlighting our favorite pieces along with some of the most special limited edition Audemars Piguet timepieces in this collection:
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher ref. 26221FT.OO.D002CA.01 limited to 221 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Millenary Carbon One ref. 26152AU.OO.D002CR.01 limited to 120 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello I ref. 26071IK.OO.D002CA.01 in titanium limited to 150 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello II ref. 26078PO.OO.D001VS.01 in platinum limited to 150 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Michael Schumacher ref. 26568RM.OO.A004CA.01 in 18K rose gold limited to 500 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Leo Messi ref. 26325OL.OO.D005CR.01 in 18K rose gold and tantalum limited to 400 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Limited Edition ref. 26290RO.OO.A001VE.01 in 18K rose gold and forged carbon limited to 650 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 44 ref. 26401RO.OO.A002CA.01 in 18K rose gold and black ceramic.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Pride of Mexico ref. 26297IS.OO.D101CR.01 in titanium and stainless steel limited to 200 pieces and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Pride of Mexico ref. 26297OR.OO.D101CR.01 in 18K rose gold limited to 100 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Gstaad Classic Chronograph ref. 26558TI.OO.D080VE.01 in titanium limited to 250 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team Forged Carbon ref. 26062FS.OO.A002CA.01 limited to 1,300 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rhone Fusterie Limited Edition ref. 26108ST.OO.D066CR.01 in stainless steel limited to 500 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Las Vegas Strip Limited Edition ref. 26186SN.OO.D101CR.01 in black PVD stainless steel limited to 400 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Survivor ref. 26165IO.00.A002CA.01 in black PVD stainless steel limited to 1,000 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Equation of Time with Perpetual Calendar and Astronomic moon ref. 26003OR.OO.D002CR.01 in 18K rose gold.
Note: The images below are in the same order as the list.
And just as everything in this life is always full of surprises, what was intended to be just a regular visit to see an interesting watch collection, ended up being much more than that and a day we will never forget. When watches and the good life intertwine, one rarely knows what's in store for us. But one thing we do know, is that you can never judge a book by its cover and this collection of watches and cars simply left us in awe. All we have to say to this collector is Thank You. Thank you for opening your doors to us and for allowing us to document this very special day we will always remember for years to come.
In sum, when money is no object, you can have almost every watch that you want; however, considering that a watch collection is a journey and not a destination, there's always something else that will catch your eye, even when you have a collection worth more than a million dollars.
Until next time!
