Audemars Piguet guide · 5 min read
How to care for your Audemars Piguet
A Audemars Piguet is built to outlast its owner — but how it's treated decides whether it holds value as an asset or quietly loses it. The habits below cost almost nothing, and one theme runs through all of them: originality is value. Most 'improvements' owners make to watches reduce what dealers will pay.
Caring for a Audemars Piguet: what matters most
On a Royal Oak, the finishing is the watch: those alternating brushed surfaces and polished bevels on the case and integrated bracelet are hand-applied, and they are the first casualty of careless ownership. Aggressive polishing blurs the transitions and flattens the bevels — damage that costs serious money to undo at AP and serious value if left undone.
Service through Audemars Piguet or an accredited specialist every four to six years, and have bracelet stretch addressed professionally — the integrated bracelet is structural to the watch's look and its value.
Audemars Piguet care checklist
- Never let a general jeweller polish a Royal Oak; refinishing this case is specialist work.
- Watch for bracelet stretch and loose pins early — repairs are easier and cheaper before links wear oval.
- The thin bezel chips if knocked against hard edges; desk wear is the Royal Oak's natural predator.
- Keep tapisserie dials away from moisture — water marks on the waffle pattern are hard to fix.
- Retain every link removed when sizing; full-length bracelets matter to offers.
The universal rule: don't polish
Polishing removes metal — every pass softens case lines and rounds edges, permanently. Dealers and collectors pay premiums for unpolished watches and discount refinished ones. Honest scratches are expected and priced in; missing metal is forever. If you're preparing the watch for sale, clean it gently and stop there.
Thinking of selling?
A well-kept Audemars Piguet is exactly what registered dealers compete for. Submit it once, free — dealers see the watch (never your details) and place binding rand offers. Take the best one or walk away.
Ready to sell your Audemars Piguet?
Submit your watch free. Registered dealers bid, you take the best or walk away.