This is a release some people probably saw coming. Let’s go back and read the tea leaves now, with hindsight being our guide. When I spoke with AP’s Head of Complications, Anne-Gaëlle Quinet, in 2023, shortly after she had taken on the role, I asked where she hoped to leave her mark.
“I love the mechanisms we’re building because that really is my roots, but also I want to bring some feminine aesthetic. So I’m already starting to talk to research and development…. Because women love watches too,” she said. Later, she also added, “Size is very important, of course. For example, I’m wearing the 41mm Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar [editors’ note: in rose gold with a blue dial], and I really love it. I do. And I feel 41 is fine, but I would love to develop a complication that fits everyone, not only women but also men. The other day I had a chance to wear a 39mm perpetual calendar [the 2120 caliber Royal Oak], and for me, 39mm is just perfect.”