Grail Watch: Audemars Piguet Double-Face Star Wheel “de Poche”

Cast in platinum and topped with sapphire cabochon gems, the Audemars Piguet Double-Face Star Wheel is a two-sided, twin-dial love letter to AP’s most hardcore fans. With a guilloché enamel time dial on the front and a skeletonized digital Star Wheel calendar on the back, this poem in precious metal combines the best of vintage vogue with the reliability and warranty of a new-manufactured watch.

Let’s talk rarity. We have one. The AP museum in Le Brassus has another, and the rest of the world fights over the other 23. Often described as a “grail watch,” “white whale,” and “Shangri-La” by AP collectors, this Star Wheel will be the find of a lifetime for one lucky Audemars maven and a lifetime of regrets for the rest of the faithful.

AP is a watchmaker to the stars, and it has been since long before LeBron was on board. To commemorate the company’s 125th anniversary in 2000, the Swiss firm issued a small run of Star Wheel watches for its most dedicated collectors. Of this millennial all-star team, the most exclusive – by far -was the Double-Face pocket watch in platinum. And when a charter member of the luxury watch “Holy Trinity” like AP flexes its muscles, the result doesn’t tell time so much as stop it.

The centerpiece of the Double-Face is the star wheel calendar on the reverse dial. More than just a skeletonized dial, it’s a hypnotic openworked showcase of luxury watchmaking’s most exclusive arts. Black polished screw heads, surgical placement of grained surfaces, and angled polish of every edge delivers a breathtaking impact. No prior knowledge of watchmaking is necessary to appreciate the effect, and even non-enthusiasts will be impressed by the level of detail and substance at play here. This is as close to commissioned art as you can get without a six-figure check and years-long wait.

A star wheel system of sapphire month discs rotates around the center and traces the 31-day month scale under the crown. It’s a digital system that always features a month pointing to a date, and when the current month slips off the scale, the next one springs upward to restart the count. If this looks like the system that made Urwerk famous, it’s no coincidence – the original 1991 AP Star Wheel introduced this style to the watch world, and “pioneering” alternative-time watches have been attempting to emulate it ever since.

But you can’t beat the real thing. Audemars Piguet here includes a level of upscale substance and style that pretenders can’t touch. On the front dial, the Double-Face displays three-hand time via ornate central cathedral hands and a small-seconds subdial. Silvered Roman numerals and a 60-minute “railroad” track provide an elegant counterpoint to the reverse dial’s blinding supernova of polished clockwork. Rich blue enamel creates the illusion of vintage porcelain, and the textured center or “guilloché” creates a hugely impressive effect as light moves across it. Dome-cut cabochon gems turn the crown into an exclamation point.

Consider the value proposition that’s in play with this watch. Vintage is hot on the auction circuit and open market. In fact, classics have never been hotter. But the vintage market is a snake pit of frankenwatches, outright counterfeits, and delicate old watches far too fragile to use or enjoy. This Double-Face Star Wheel, on the other hand, is the best of both worlds. Fully authentic and fresh from AP service, it’s virtually a new watch with warranty. It features a modern movement with contemporary shock protection and real-world standards of durability.

While other manufacturers scramble to reissue vintage-look pretenders, AP never killed off the old breed, and the Star Wheel has presence that retro-watches can’t touch. Casually draw this animal from your coat pocket at lunch, and you become the center of attention. The Double-Face is a “double-take” kind of watch. At 55 mm, it has the size to make an Hublot Big Bang – or even a King Power – look like a Lady Datejust.

Even better, pocket watches can be enjoyed by owners of any wrist size. Within this pocket watch, impeccable taste, retro appeal, cool gadgetry, and AP pedigree come together to create the ultimate statement watch. Hell, you can even carry the Star Wheel while wearing an AP wristwatch for triple-barrel action that will leave even watch-illiterate colleagues seeing “stars!”

But this is a one-shot deal. With only 25 in existence and at least AP’s sole factory example permanently off the market, these watches just don’t appear for sale. Despite our fourteen years and tens of thousands of luxury watches sold, this is the first one we’ve seen at The 1916 Company. Generally sold exclusively between collectors, this Audemars Piguet Double-Face Star Wheel comes to market solely thanks to our outstanding relationships in the collector community. We can declare with confidence that this is a one-shot deal. Whoever is bold enough to pull the trigger will be well on his way to corning the market for one of the most important modern Audemars Piguets.