The Audemars Piguet Perpetual Calendar Movement Steps Into a New Era with the Caliber 7138 Collection

Bidding adieu to its historic caliber 2120/2800 in 2021, the watchmaking expert Audemars Piguet unsurprisingly introduced a new milestone in the world of horology. The much-anticipated reveal is none other than the Caliber 7138 perpetual calendar movement, housed in the newly-launched Royal Oaks and Code 11.59 collections. This impressive development marks a notable shift for the brand, boasting a completely crown-adjusted movement, eradicating the need for elusive pushers and lost styluses.
One of the most impressive features of the Caliber 7138 movement is its user-friendly design. Previous perpetual calendar mechanisms often required engaging one or more small corrector buttons often located on the baseband. This tedious task is a thing of the past as all adjustments are now made directly via the crown, ruling out any chance of accidental scratches. The innovative mechanism is also a solution to the long-standing problem of going a day or year ahead, as it eliminates the obligatory idle watch period or the need for professional adjustments.
Launched under the Royal Oak and Code 11.59 collections, the Caliber 7138 manifests differently in each design. The Royal Oak collection proudly presents a duo of 41mm by 9.4mm steel watches with a blue dial, alongside a sand gold watch featuring a colour-matched dial. The Code 11.59 collection, on the other hand, offers a 41mm by 10.6mm white gold case timepiece. The movements, strongly influenced by the 7121 introduced update to the ‘Jumbo’ Royal Oak ref. 16202 from 2022, show evident design changes as compared to their predecessor, the Caliber 5134. The most noticeable change is seen in the two bridges over the balance wheel and the mainspring barrel, made of 22-carat pink gold offering an appealing contrast against the other rhodium-toned components.
As it unfolds a new chapter for Audemars Piguet, the whole new Caliber 7138 collection indeed takes the brand’s legacy of creating high-end, mechanically-advanced timepieces a notch higher. Not only does it exemplify their prowess in horology but also their commitment to pushing boundaries and redefining watchmaking traditions.