Audemars Piguet "Disco Volante" in 18k Yellow Gold

1950 | Yellow gold | Manual | 35.0mm

The "Disco Volante" — flying saucer — is the nickname collectors have given to a family of AP dress watches from the late 1950s and early 1960s whose stepped, deeply sculpted bezels create an almost orbital effect around the dial. The name is informal but entirely apt: seen from above, the concentric rings of the bezel give the watch a genuinely futuristic quality that sits in sharp contrast to the more conventional dress watches of the era.

This example adds several layers of interest. The yellow gold case is punctuated by white gold accents — the applied hour markers set into the bezel's inner ring catch the light differently from the surrounding gold, creating a two-tone interplay that gives the watch considerable visual depth. The dial itself has developed a beautiful silver patina over the decades, its surface marked by the natural oxidation of age rather than neglect.

The double signature is the detail that collectors notice immediately: "Audemars Piguet Genève" above centre, and "Türler" below — the prestigious Zürich retailer whose name appeared on Patek Philippe, Rolex, and AP pieces supplied exclusively through their boutique. A double-signed AP is a closed chapter; these pieces were produced for a specific retailer at a specific moment, and that moment cannot be repeated.

A genuinely rare configuration of an already uncommon reference.