SJX Watches
Up Close: Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Bolshoi Limited Edition
When Audemars Piguet launched the Code 11.59 last year, the best looking of the collection were the two watches with smoked enamel dials, which were the minute repeater and flying tourbillon. The base models, on the other hand, were plain and looked a bit flat. But as proof that dial colours and shading are as important as design, the Code 11.59 Bolshoi Limited Edition is the three-hand base model, but with a smoked blue enamel dial – and it is a good looking watch, with the downside of a substantial price premium for the enamel dial. Launched in November 2019 to mark the 10th anniversary of Audemars Piguet’s sponsorship of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the parent organisation of the world-famous Bolshoi Ballet, the Code 11.59 Bolshoi edition was a limited edition of 99 pieces. And it’s the only base-model Code 11.59 with an enamel (or smoked-finish) dial to date, though that might change in the future. Initial thoughts The Bolshoi edition is surprisingly attractive, even though only a single element has changed. Though it keeps the design exactly the same, the Bolshoi edition fixes the bland looks of the original simply but effectively with a fired enamel dial. While the smoked finish is not new – H. Moser & Cie. does it all the time and now MB&F; does too – the dial of the Bolshoi edition is fired enamel, which is doubtlessly difficult to produce and tangibly impressive. Because everything else remains the same as the standard edition, the Bolshoi edition also...
