The beauty of a long, storied history, is that you never know what you might dig up – and for a brand with a history as long as perfect Audemars Piguet replica watches, recent excavations have turned up more than a few nuggets of gold.
Case in point, the new latest addition to its current line-up, a piece that it is calling the [RE]Master02 Watch.
Originally released in 1960 – under the catchy name ‘reference 5159BA’ – this quirky, asymmetrical wristwatch is the perfect demonstration of a time when UK AAA fake watches design was at its wildest.
This was a freewheelin’ decade that saw robust experimentation in shapes, sizes and materials, spawning pilot replica watches for sale that looked like props from 2001: A Space Odyssey, flipboard models that resembled bedside clocks for the wrist, and barrel-shaped designs made out of wood.
For Audemars Piguet – which was a fraction of the size the watchmaking giant is now – it had already started experimenting with the design of its bracelets and cases, notably trying to harmonise two shapes that had presided over high quality copy watches design until then, the rectangle and the circle, into something angular, brutalist-looking and asymmetrical.
The 5159BA replica watches for men featured one such asymmetrical gold case, measured 27.5mm and was produced in a run of just seven units – one of which is on permanent display at Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, the watchmaker’s museum, in Le Brassus, Switzerland.
This new version – known as the [RE]Master02 – keeps the oddball case shape of the original, ups the size to 41mm and comes in AP’s latest ‘sand gold’ material. It’s also been made in more units – though not a vast amount more – 250.
The mouthful of a name continues AP’s trend of creating headaches for sub-editors – see also, the ‘Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet’ line – and is apparently a play on remastering old music recordings.
An earlier [RE]Master – the [RE]Master01 – coincided with the opening of AP’s museum in 2020, and was a reinterpretation of a chronograph from 1943.
“In the 1960s, Audemars Piguet produced several models inspired by the Brutalist movement, with angular shapes devoid of ornamentation,” Sébastian Vivas, heritage and museum director at AP says. “It was also the golden age of asymmetrical watches for the manufacture, with more than 30 models created between 1959 and 1963, most of which were produced in less than ten pieces. The 5159BA belongs to this generation of cheap 2024 super clone watches.
“Looking back at the numerous records of the manufacture since its origins in 1875, the hardest part was choosing the model that would be subject to contemporary reinterpretation. Before the 1950s, each top replica watches UK coming out of the workshops was unique. There were no ‘references’ or ‘models’, only infinite variations of shapes, materials and complications.
“From the front [the 5159BA] is beautiful. From the side, it looks like a science-fiction car. It is almost impossible to find [today]. I would be delighted to see more of this timepiece. If you hear anything about it, contact us!”
“The challenges to reinterpret [this watch] were numerous,” says Lucas Raggi, Audemars Piguet’s R&D director. “As it was necessary to maintain the original shape of the best online replica watches while adapting it to current quality standards.
“For example, the work that had to be done on the sapphire crystal – and recreate the glass with a 15.8° angle – required cutting-edge technology. Two years of research and development went into its design. The [RE]Master02 also features a case crafted in sand gold, a new 18-carat alloy whose shades vary between white and pink gold depending on the light and the movement of the wrist. Last but not least, it houses the new calibre 7129, an extra-thin hour and minute movement, only 2.8mm in thickness.”
The [RE]Master02 arrives at a time of renewed interest in unusually-shaped and blingy wholesale fake watches designs from the 20th century. Though with a price of around AED190,000, your pockets will have to be pretty deep, as well as asymmetrical.
