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The Owl Watches You Back.
Some watches tell you the day and date and move on. This one makes you look at time a little longer than you planned.
The Audemars Piguet Day-Date ref. 25574BA comes from a moment when the brand was far more curious than it was predictable. Long before the Royal Oak became the shorthand for everything AP, the manufacture was experimenting with how information could live on a dial and how gold could behave on the wrist.
Collectors nicknamed this watch “The Owl,” and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Two perfectly balanced sub-dials stare back from the dial, wide-set and alert, framed by a round case that feels more expressive than formal. Drawing an owl’s face sounds simple until you try to make it symmetrical. The same challenge exists here. The success of this watch lives and dies by proportion, and Audemars Piguet absolutely nailed it.
Instead of hiding the day and date behind small apertures, AP chose to reveal the full cycle. The left sub-dial tracks the days of the week. The right tracks the date. You don’t just read where you are. You see where you’ve been and how far you have left to go. It changes your relationship with the complication entirely. Time becomes visual, circular, and oddly intuitive.
The dial itself is enamel, with a soft white glow that feels closer to porcelain than lacquer. Roman numerals anchor the design without overpowering it, and the blued hands inside the sub-dials add just enough contrast to keep things legible and lively. The symmetry here is not decorative. It’s disciplined.
Then there’s the bracelet. This is the part that stops conversations.
Made in 18k yellow gold, the bracelet uses alternating bars and circular links to create something that looks rigid at first glance but moves fluidly on the wrist. The construction is quietly brilliant. Five circular links sit between each bar. Three are welded to one side, two to the other, allowing the bracelet to articulate in a way that feels almost impossible when you study it closely. It’s an optical trick and an engineering feat at the same time.
At 107.2 grams, the watch has real presence without feeling clumsy. The watch measures 20.5 cm tip to tip and fits up to a 7.5-inch wrist, with micro-adjustments in the clasp and the ability to size down (with the help of a jeweller). The AP emblem on the clasp feels like a signature from the artist once the work is finished.
The 33mm case wears beautifully, especially in gold. The proportions feel modern even decades later, and the gentle patina collecting in the crevices reminds you this watch has lived a life before arriving here. Produced in the 1980s, it stands as proof that Audemars Piguet has always been more than a one-design brand.
This is not a Royal Oak alternative.
It’s a reminder that AP never needed one.
Overall, the watch presents in very good vintage condition with strong visual appeal and honest wear consistent with age.
The 18k yellow gold case shows light surface marks with attractive patina developing around the crevices and edges.
The enamel dial is clean and well preserved, retaining its soft porcelain-like glow with crisp printing throughout.
The caseback is stamped with legible serials hallmarks.
The hands are original and well preserved, and the crystal is clean with no distracting marks.
The original 18k yellow gold bracelet is in excellent condition, remains tight, weighs substantially, and fits up to a 7.5-inch wrist with micro-adjustments at the clasp.
The automatic movement is functioning properly and keeping time as expected for a vintage piece.
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