Entrepreneur GMK spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Monaco-based entrepreneur GMK, known in collector circles as 'The Aberrant' for his deliberately left-field approach to high horology and automotive acquisitions, was recently spotted wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar reference 26579CE.OO.1225CE.01 — a now-discontinued 41mm piece in black ceramic that has become one of the most aggressively appreciating complications in the modern AP catalogue.

The 26579CE is built around Calibre 5134, a self-winding movement measuring 26.59mm in diameter and running at 19,800 vph with a 40-hour power reserve. The perpetual calendar module displays day, date, month, and leap year via dedicated apertures and hands, all without requiring manual correction until 2100. The grey dial carries the signature Grande Tapisserie hobnail pattern — a texture that gains particular visual depth against the matte black ceramic case and integrated bracelet. Ceramic lugs and bracelet links on a perpetual calendar represent an extraordinary manufacturing challenge: the material's brittleness demands tolerances that substantially increase production time and rejection rates.

Audemars Piguet quietly discontinued the reference, which was already produced in limited numbers, making it immediately more desirable among the collector set that had been watching it appreciate in real time. When Watch Paparazzi last documented this reference in October 2021, grey market prices hovered around $270,000 USD — themselves already a significant premium over list. That figure has since climbed to approximately $400,000 USD, representing close to a 50% appreciation in under four years. For context, this is a watch whose official retail price was already positioned at the very top of the Royal Oak complication hierarchy.

GMK's reputation as a serious horological voice from Monaco lends this sighting genuine weight. The Principality has always attracted collectors who treat watches as an extension of mechanical connoisseurship rather than status signaling, and 'The Aberrant' fits squarely in that tradition — consistently choosing references with technical substance over mere visibility.

On the current market, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 26579CE in black ceramic is trading at levels that make it one of the most valuable modern-production AP references outside of limited tourbillon and minute repeater pieces. Its combination of ceramic construction, in-house perpetual calendar, and discontinued status creates a near-perfect storm of collector demand.