It’s not very fun celebrating your birthday when people aren’t able to come to the party. Take it from someone who was born during the summer vacation season. When it’s your 50th birthday, however, you want to do something special, with or without the huge bash that usually accompanies the occasion of being in existence for half a century.
If the title (or the photo at the top of this article) hasn’t already given it away by now, it’s time to reveal that we’re about to dive into the new Audemars Piguet automatic time-and-date movement, commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the high quality replica Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watches.
If you describe yourself as any kind of AAA US fake watches lover at all, you definitely already know that the Royal Oak, famously designed by Gérald Genta, debuted in 1972. The first Royal Oak, the legendary ref. 5402 nicknamed “Jumbo” by collectors, was steel perfect super clone watches powered by an equally legendary movement, the ultra-thin automatic cal. 2120 (Audemars Piguet’s internal reference for this milestone movement that was used only by the most prestigious brands in watchmaking). I’m not telling you anything new; this is foundational knowledge for any horological enthusiast. Over the decades, the cal. 2120 has powered a wide range of cheap Audemars Piguet replica watches, both in and out of the Royal Oak collection, from time-only models to grand complications. In watchmaking, a versatile and hardworking movement like this is called a “tracteur”, but if the cal. 2120 is a tractor, it’s the most beautiful tractor I’ve ever laid eyes on.
No-so-secret confession: I love the cal. 2120. It is instantly recognisable; it is as impressive today as it was in 1967 when it was created; I feel tremendously sentimental about it. If you’re going to replace the cal. 2120, it needs to be with something just as spectacular and powerful. In the short time since I’ve come to discover the new cal. 7121, I realise that this is what best Swiss Audemars Piguet copy watches have done.
As much as I heart the cal. 2120, it has its imperfections. In my completely besotted eyes, those imperfections add to its appeal, but I haven’t abandoned my senses to the extent that I would say the cal. 2120 cannot be improved in any way. I repeat: it has its imperfections. Il faut appeler un chat un chat. It had a weird beat rate of 2.75Hz, it honestly didn’t look that great when skeletonised, and some of the features related to its ultra-thin construction detracted slightly from its elegance. In addition, although it never bothered me, the replica watches wholesale collecting community was very vocal about its lack of quick-set date (in the cal. 2121 time-and-date version of the movement). It’s clear that the cal. 2120 was from a previous era.
Your first glance of the cal. 7121 will tell you that this is a completely different kind of beast. It is sleek and contemporary. It is literally built for action, with resilience-boosting features such as the double-ended construction for both balance bridge and barrel bridge, and the ball-bearing mounted rotor. The beat rate is now 4Hz (28,800vph), which is the modern-day standard for any fake watches shop site intended to be worn in the course of an active life. The power reserve has been extended, and in conjunction with the increased balance frequency, this means that the cal. 7121 outperforms its predecessor in terms of both stability and autonomy. You just can’t argue with facts like that.
The balance follows the principle of the cal. 2120’s Gyromax balance, using variable inertia blocks for poise and fine adjustment, eliminating the need for an index regulator. The cal. 7121 improves upon this excellent system, integrating the inertia blocks within the profile of the balance wheel itself for greater aerodynamic performance.
The overall configuration of the movement components has been visibly optimised for servicing and maintenance (a rather unsexy but highly important aspect of customer-centric watchmaking). The fact that all this has been done whilst preserving movement symmetry and aesthetic refinement — it blows (what’s left of) my tiny little mind.
Oh yeah, there’s now a quick-set date in the cal. 7121, but as I said before, that’s not important for me. You might really dig it, though. Anyway, the best thing about it is, you don’t have to spend hours with a watchmaker to be persuaded that the cal. 7121 is objectively a better movement than the cal. 2120. There’s nothing here but [I used a very strong word here but was obliged to delete it in line with our editorial policy of not swearing in articles] good watchmaking. You can see it with your eyes. (That said, I am heartbroken for the impending obsolescence of one of my favourite movements of all time. What can I say? Love is love.)
I haven’t even started talking about the whole design aspect of the anniversary Swiss movements Audemars Piguet Royal Oak replica watches. We’ve run out of time, so I’ll summarise: JE LES ADORE. And to come back to my original point, I’ve decided it doesn’t matter even if extravagant anniversary galas are now a thing of the past. Birthdays aren’t about parties. Birthdays are about what has changed, yes, on the outside, but mostly on the inside. Birthdays don’t celebrate when you were born. They celebrate how far you’ve come.
