Review: Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Dual Time

It’s not every day you’d call a £15,000 watch a bargain, but the Jules Audemars Dual Time from Audemars Piguet is the kind of watch that, were you to have £15,000 lying around, you should snap up and hang on to. Here are three reasons why.

The Looks

The most surprising thing about the Jules Audemars Dual Time is just how un-Audemars Piguet it is, and by that I mean how un-Royal Oak it is. You could be forgiven for confusing the Royal Oak’s success with the brand’s identity; however, from a chronological standpoint at least, the Royal Oak is just a blip. Of the 145 years Audemars Piguet has existed, only forty-eight have been with the Royal Oak, leaving a whopping two thirds of the brand’s history to be filled by something else. That makes the Jules Audemars Dual Time, actually, very Audemars Piguet.

The crazy thing is that, traditionally, Audemars Piguet has never been about wacky designs and crazy styling—it is a very demure and very traditional Swiss watchmaking firm, whose design ethos was founded on the sedate. The Royal Oak was just a Hail Mary that’s kind of stuck around ever since.

But this, this is what we should be thinking about when Audemars Piguet comes to mind. Simple details embellished only with quality and skill, not lurid patterns and garish angles. The Royal Oak has its place for sure, but watches like this shouldn’t have fallen into its shadow. The silver lining is that this presents a rare opportunity to own a watch from a legendary watchmaker that people can’t immediately identify from the other side of the room.

Audemars Piguet was originally founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in 1875

From a distance, it’s a watch all about imparting information. The date, power reserve and of course dual time, complete with day/night indicator, are almost gauge-like in their simplicity. This is a good thing, because it means they can actually be read. From a vantage point that’s a little more intimate, the recessed sub-dials, polished, rose gold rims and delicately sculpted hands are a treat enjoyed by the owner alone.

But, you might be thinking, with old-school looks comes an old-school problem—size. This watch is likely to be too small for modern tastes. Oh, but it’s not. It may look older, but it’s actually only got a few years under its belt, and because of that it’s a healthy 41mm across. Beautiful and wearable.

The Movement

The second reason this watch is one not to let slip by is the movement. This is going to be controversial, so bear with me. You might perhaps be thinking that it’s a beautiful, in-house masterpiece or a hand-skeletonised artwork—but no. You can’t even see it. And it’s not even exclusively made by Audemars Piguet.

Seeing into the back of a watch is a pretty new idea. I very much appreciate it on many watches, but for that true, old-school experience, the back’s got to be closed off. It’s not a supercar, engine on display, it’s a workhorse—albeit one fashioned in the most luxurious of ways. It’s a Rolls Royce on a Monday morning commute. When it’s doing its job right, you simply don’t notice it.

The movement itself is one you may have seen before in a Jaeger-LeCoultre, and that’s because it’s a Jaeger-LeCoultre movement. Audemars Piguet calls it the calibre 2329/2846, but really it’s the Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 889. Before you groan a big sigh of disappointment, let me tell you why that’s just about perfect for an old-school watch like this.

Audemars Piguet— alongside Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin— is considered one of the top watchmakers in the world

In 1989, Audemars Piguet announced its first dual time watch, one that, although a lot smaller at just 36mm, is very oddly familiar. That’s because the calibre 2229/2845 in it was also based on the Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 889. Both contemporary and classic beautifully finished by Audemars Piguet no doubt, both following a lineage that has been with the brand since before either watch and even the Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre have been competing in a friendly rivalry since the early 1900s, challenging each other to build thinner and thinner movements. But what this one-upmanship demonstrated was that the two brands could be better united than standing apart, and so in 1953 they collaborated on the calibre 803, an ultra-thin movement sturdy enough to actually sell in significant numbers.

Fast forward to 1967 and Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin joined the pair to develop the ultra-thin automatic calibre 920, which found a home in the Nautilus, the 222—and of course the Royal Oak. So really, a Jaeger-LeCoultre movement is as right in an Audemars Piguet as pink on a pig.

The Price

I won’t pretend that £15,000 isn’t a lot of money; it is. Today, however, it’s not a lot of money for a truly high-end wristwatch it seems, especially in precious metal. The Yacht-Master 40 in rose gold and ceramic? That’s £21,900 please, sir. The decidedly similar Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Geographic in rose gold? £23,300. Even in steel it’s £11,500.

But if you want to compare apples with apples, then the recent Audemars Piguet homage that’s not a homage, the named-by-a-guy-in-a-grey-suit-who-thinks-kids-are-still-into-BMXs [Re]Master01—that’s open square brackets “Re”, close square brackets “Master01” for the uninitiated—costs a whopping $53,100, and that was only partially rose gold.

The point is that this Audemars Piguet offers something that’s orbiting the vicinity of good value. It’s a watch from the top three, a complicated one, in a modern size, in precious metal—for less than the cheapest steel Royal Oak at a tiddly 34mm. You don’t have to be Mr. Monopoly Man to understand that this is, relatively speaking, a bit of a steal.

Audemars Piguet is one of a few top watchmakers to remain independent and family-owned

Honestly, I challenge you to find something that ticks as many boxes as this Jules Audemars Dual Time. See if you can find something from a top three watchmaker that gives you everything this does. At best, you’re going to come up with the kind of list you won’t need to write down to remember.

One of my favourite things about watchmaking is just how incredibly diverse it is. Sure, look in a jeweller’s window and you’d probably think otherwise, but with your deerstalker on and pipe in hand, a little bit of detective work is sure to reveal treats here and there that the mainstream would never have you think possible. It shows that it pays to do your research and not follow the crowd when the reward can be as handsome as this—and who knows, you might even have a little fun along the way.

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