Letters From The Editor: Why The Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Was One of My Favorites of SIHH

We could be looking at a breakout model here from Audemars Piguet. Ask the average city-dwelling watch fan under the age of 50 which model they'd choose if given the the run of the whole AP family and realistically, you'd be looking at a 99% Royal Oak response rate.

But, one watch that could change all that is the new Millenary 4101 announced at the SIHH earlier this month. The 4101 borrows the case dimensions from existing Millenary watches (including the $370,000 Titanium Minute Repeater we showed you here) but unlike most previous iterations of the Millenary, this one happens to be available in steel.

So, right off the bat you have a versatile case material that is much more approachable (read as "affordable") than any precious metal. On top of the steel case, you have a brand new calibre (Cal 4101 from which the model takes its name) from Audemars Piguet that is hard to define, in the best possible way.

The watch is not skeletonized - there is no openworking on the movement. The dial isn't pierced - in fact the entire watch is designed to display the movement and the dial congruently, both viewable from the front. At 9 o'clock, you can see the balance, lever, and escapement. There are 12 visible bridges on the surface of the movement and the three particularly bright jewels accentuating the 10, 11, and 12 o'clock positions on the dial.

The 34 jewel, caliber 4101 movemement consists of 253 parts and has a power reserve of 60 hours. It features a 22-carat gold oscillating weight (engraved with both the AP logo and both Audemars and Piguet family crests) mounted on ceramic ball bearings and every single part of this new caliber is decorated by hand. The mainplate is adorned with horizontal Ctes de Genve on the front and circular-grained on the back; the bridges are rhodiumed, bevelled, snailed and adorned with horizontal and circular Ctes de Genve and with circular graining: The jewel sinks are diamond-polished, as are the countersinks and bevelled wheel spokes, and finally, all screw rims are bevelled.

The Millenary 4101 is such a standout for a variety of reasons. The high-tech design (love that visible balance wheel) coupled with a stainless steel case make this watch perfect for younger guys looking to get into a serious timepiece but want something a little different. Also, the pricing on this completely new model is more than reasonable - it is $20,600 in steel, just a shade above the Royal Oak 15202. Also, the 4101 just looks great, and it looks very much like several of the other Millenary pieces (the Tradition dExcellence N5, the Millenary with deadbeat seconds and the Millenary MC 12), all of which were much, much more expensive than the 4101. But, let's get one thing straight , this new Millenary 4101 is a real watch guy's watch with an absolutely fantatisc AP-bred movement.

In my very humble opinion, Audemars Piguet hit the nail on the head with this new piece, and they have a soon to be hit on their hands. All of a sudden, the Royal Oak has hot new stable-mate.

For details of all new Audemars Pigu! et Mille nary 4101, one of the coolest watches I saw at SIHH, click here.



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