Audemars Piguet Platinum Carrée

Some watches feel like they slipped through a side door in history. This one didn’t just slip. It wandered into Paris, stayed long enough to pick up a platinum suit and a diamond ring, then returned to Le Brassus as if nothing happened.

This is a 1959 Audemars Piguet Carrée in platinum, a model that already sits in the rare air of mid-century AP. Of the very few that were born, they were done so in white gold. Platinum was for the few who knew exactly what they wanted and had the means to request it. To find one today with its original factory-set diamonds and case still crisp is the kind of moment collectors hope for but rarely get.

To craft the case, AP partnered with Parisian atelier, De Trevars, whose DT hallmark appears on the case alongside French platinum dog’s head hallmarks. Import tariffs were steep on precious metals in the 50s, so Swiss brands commonly relied on local market case makers. The result was a hybrid of Swiss precision and Parisian metalwork that only a small circle of clients ever saw.

The design itself is wonderfully idiosyncratic. A circle framed inside a square, with cutout corners that make the watch feel like it's floating. Twelve diamonds orbit the dial in a mix of brilliant and baguette cuts, all factory-set. The white cream dial stays clean with long painted markers and a pair of warm gold hands that add just a hint of contrast.

Turn it over and the French story continues. It’s an 18k white gold Cartier-style deployant, the original Edmond Jaeger design patented in 1909, stamped with French eagle hallmarks, EJ maker’s marks, and the original serial. The hinge is still stiff, which tells you exactly how little this piece was worn.

At 26mm squared with a 34mm lug to lug span, the proportions feel unmistakably vintage. The case is thin enough that the watch almost disappears thanks to the flatness from the calibre 2003.

This watch also appears with a Cartier dial from the same year, catalogued in Le Temps de Cartier, likely built by AP using the same French connection.

Everything about this watch points to a special order. Everything about its condition suggests it was tucked away rather than worn down.

For the collector who enjoys the thrill of discovering the side roads in Swiss watchmaking history, this is a serious addition to the library.