What a beauty - it's such a lovely gold, a notch dialled back from a really bright yellow gold. The VC bracelets are the bees' knees, especially at this level of watch.

You do you - good luck.

I'm clenching as hard as I hope those seals are ...

Hey, well done - it does have the look of an original dial from AP without any rust or other deteriation - they were just so classy back in the day, the logo is so perfectly understated - it really ticks all the boxes of a great elegant dress watch. I do love the Florentine work, my white gold VC has that style of decoration. You know you have a real one of a kind piece. The markers look like they may be pieces of onyx.

The better watchmakers can usually deal with this movement (there are certainly some in the UK that can, so I'd hope it isn't different near you), so it doesn't necessarily need an expensive trip back to Geneva unless there is something dreadfully wrong and tricky new parts are needed. I hope it had a clean bill of health before you pushed the button.

It makes me sad to see what AP has turned into now. It wasn't that long ago that they had a full range of dress watches and complications, but they have all been ditched in favour of the RO. Don't get me started on the 11:59 - the Timex Giogio Galli is essentially the same design but done better! Their catalogue up until the 70's is full of quirky pieces, on par with the best of the oddest VC's. Personally I think the AP's and VC's of that era tend to be more interesting in terms of case design than the Patek's, though there are obviously some stunning PP's around too (and usually at silly prices for anything that isn't a basic Calatrava).

The thin Piaget's with exotic dials in semi-precious stones are another terribly dangerous rabbit hole that I need to avoid falling down!

I've a 7 1/2 in wrist - I've got several 33 and 34mm watches - all from the 50's, but they all have rather extended lugs, but also extremely narrow bezels, so that the actual watch face tends to be as large as that on a modern Rolex Submariner and wear rather like a 36 to 38mm modern watch. They are all ultra thin or at least thin at under 10mm, and this combined makes them eminently wearable and also extremely legible at a glance. The whole nonsense of this size of watch being inappropriate for men just needs to stop. 36/37mm was always a "jumbo" watch from the earliest PP Calatravas - hence the designation of the first AP Royal Oak's or the Vacheron 222 as "jumbo" at this size.

Back when Omega weren't so fixated on the Moonwatch & Bond stories - res ipsa loquitur - and all that!

Goodness gracious, you need to snap that one up. It looks like the 1001(VC)/2001 (AP) but the very best version of that movement with the Gyromax free-sprung balance (only the very best VC's and AP's seemed to have got them). It's one of the best manual movements ever made, thanks to JLC of course. I do love white gold for it's incredible stealth, as well as the soft warmth to the colour, and the case is beautifully hand-finished. That's the height of AP style - that watch will look fantastic in 50 year's time.