A Legendary Grail Watch Just Fixed Its Biggest “Flaw”

Audemars Piguet’s new perpetual calendar movement gets a massive upgrade and, of course, debuts with a pair of Royal Oaks.

close view of a Audemars Piguet rose gold perpetual calendar watch dial

By Brad Lanphear

Published February 25, 2025

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If you’re fortunate enough to own any version of Audemars Piguet’s Perpetual Calendar Royal Oak, no one wants to hear you complain about a damn thing.

However, the immensely complex complication is challenging to adjust, requiring pressing very small buttons in a very particular order. If anything goes wrong, it might need a trip back to AP to get it ticking again.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before one of the world’s most prestigious watchmakers addressed this little “flaw.”

Enter the Caliber 7138 automatic perpetual calendar movement, now housed in three new AP watches, including two Royal Oaks.

a steel Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch with a blue dial — The new AP Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar boats a brand new movement.

A watch for all seasons

When AP introduced the Caliber 2120/2800 in 1978, it was the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar movement and remained the brand’s most heralded complication for decades.

But even the most advanced technology eventually becomes obsolete, and competitors like IWC have already released perpetual calendars operated solely by the crown.

the dial of a Audemars Piguet rose gold perpetual calendar watch — The new Caliber 5134 perpetual calendar movement is set entirely by the crown.

In 2024, the vaunted Swiss watchmaker announced that its perpetual calendar movement, then in the form of the Caliber 5134, was being retired by releasing a limited-edition Royal Oak in collaboration with John Mayer. At the time, this was thought to be the legendary movements last hurrah.

As it turns out, AP is giving the old movement one more joyride in celebration of a momentous milestone.

With a turn of the wrist

It came as no surprise that Audemars Piguet promptly released a successor perpetual calendar movement, revealed to be the Caliber 7138. Nor was it shocking that this upgrade would allow the calendar complication to be set entirely by the crown, as this was the new standard.

a Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch movement — AP’s new Caliber 7138 perpetual calendar movement.

What will catch even the biggest AP fans off-guard is just how advanced the new Caliber 7138 movement is. The crown has four positions, achieved by pulling it out and pressing it back in, with each position setting a different aspect of the calendar depending on which direction the crown is turned.

the display case back of a rose gold Audemars Piguet watch — Both special edition Royal Oaks feature an exhibition case back displaying the new movement.

This level of precision sounds simple, and the controls are intuitive, but achieving it is a mind-blowing display of horological mastery.

The best part is that if you accidentally go past a position, you can go backward and do not require a watchmaker to open it up and reset it.

Out with the old, in with the new

The layout of AP’s new perpetual calendar dial has changed a bit with the new Caliber 7138 movement. While the moon phase dial remains at six o’clock, the other dials are arranged in what the brand calls a “European” date style.

the dial of Audemars Piguet royal oak perpetual calendar watch — AP’s new perpetual calendar movement comes with a new dial layout.

Days of the week are placed at nine o’clock; days of the month are placed at twelve o’clock; and months are placed at three o’clock. A 24-hour indicator is placed inside the day dial, with a red “no correction” section indicating when the movement should not be adjusted.

The new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars come in a stainless steel case and bracelet with a royal blue dial, and an entirely 18-karat sand gold finish. Sand gold has become a new signature color for AP, as the soft khaki tone fits the brand’s “quiet-luxury” reputation.

the dial of a Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch — AP’s Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar.

Also containing the new Caliber 7138 is a new Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar with an 18-karat white gold 41mm case. This is a more traditional interpretation of the day-month-date-moon phase dial that places emphasis on the movement, rather than the case. Unlike the Royal Oak, it could easily be confused with a number of different luxury watch brands.

a steel Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch with a skeletonized dial — AP’s “150th Anniversary” Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar.

Finally, AP is officially putting its original perpetual calendar movement series out to pasture with a special-edition titanium Royal Oak. The “150th Anniversary” commemoration is marked on the case back, along with each watch’s number from the 150-unit collection. The dial is fittingly skeletonized to display the movement for its swan song.

Availability and pricing

Audemars Piguet’s new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar watches are both limited editions of 150 units each. The steel version, reference 26674ST, is $122,00, and the sand-gold version, reference 26674SG, is $145,000.

The Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar, reference 26494BC, is also limited to 150 units and is $122,000.

Audemars Piguet’s 150th Anniversary Royal Oak Perpetual calendar, reference 26585XT, is limited to 150 units and costs $196,000.