The "Audemars Piguet Round Model 18KWG" that arrived today is
a true Audemars Piguet piece, known for its expertise in manufacturing dress watches.
You can feel the hallmarks of a top brand throughout.
The case material uses luxurious 18k white gold,
characterized by the yellowish, deep silver color unique to the material.
The dial has a matte white base,
with an exquisite contrast between the enamel-like indices,
and a simple, uncluttered design reminiscent of Bauhaus is highly appealing.
Even without seeing the brand name, it's immediately apparent that this is a luxury timepiece,
yet its appearance is that of a perfectly ordinary round watch.
What's hard to convey from the front is the thickness of the watch.
Since this watch has a plastic domed crystal,
it's inevitable that it will be thicker than a flat crystal, but
even so, a watch thickness of 6mm is an astonishing size.
While many quartz watches exist with a thickness of around 6mm,
considering that this is a hand-wound watch manufactured around the 1960s,
you can truly appreciate how remarkable it is to have achieved this thickness.
At that time, quartz watches were just beginning to be manufactured and were not common,
it was an era dominated by mechanical watches.
It was a time when the pursuit of thinner watches was thorough,
and Jaeger-LeCoultre was one of the first to achieve it.
Jaeger-LeCoultre, which manufactured movements not only for Audemars Piguet but also for Patek Philippe and others,
is a prestigious watch brand that has created many masterpieces to this day.
The movement in this watch is the Cal. 2003, an improved version of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Cal. 803.
The thickness of the movement is an astonishing less than 2mm.
Furthermore, the excellence of this movement is apparent when hand-winding,
the mainspring winds smoothly all the way to the end.
Many hand-wound movements feel the mainspring getting heavy during winding,
but this Cal. 2003 provides a smooth winding experience until it stops.
And the finishing applied to each and every part of the movement is beautiful,
it's amazing to think this was manufactured 60 years ago.
From the watch's design and size to the use of materials, everything about it
makes it an Audemars Piguet product that can be called the pinnacle of its time.
The watch's ultimate simple design looks stylish even when just sitting there,
and when worn, its high fit on the wrist and functionality as a timepiece
allow you to truly appreciate its splendor, confirming its status as one of the world's leading brands.
This watch combines the essence of a timepiece with high quality, something rarely seen in recent watches.
It's a piece that strongly conveys why Audemars Piguet is considered one of the world's top three watch brands.
