Entrepreneur Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti, the President and CEO of the API Group — one of Italy's most prominent energy conglomerates — was recently photographed wearing a vintage Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in stainless steel with a silver dial. The reference in question, the 25654ST, belongs to one of the earliest and most elusive chapters in the Royal Oak's long history with grand complications.

Audemars Piguet introduced the first Royal Oak perpetual calendar in 1983 under reference 5554, combining Gérald Genta's legendary integrated bracelet design with a full perpetual calendar mechanism. The 25654ST followed as a direct evolution, part of a production run limited to just 800 total examples across all metals — of which a mere 272 were cased in stainless steel. The movement inside is a manually wound calibre based on the AP Calibre 2800, displaying day, date, month, and moon phase through an elegant dial layout that preserves the Royal Oak's horizontal-line tapisserie aesthetic without overcrowding.

The absence of a leap-year indicator — standard equipment on later Royal Oak perpetual calendar references such as the 25820ST — is the detail that most captivates informed collectors. Rather than a design oversight, it reflects the transitional philosophy of early complex Royal Oaks: restrained, functional, and architecturally pure. This omission, combined with the stainless steel case and bracelet, makes the 25654ST arguably the most coveted of the early Royal Oak perpetual calendar family among vintage AP specialists.

Brachetti Peretti's choice of this particular watch signals a collector of genuine conviction. With access to any contemporary piece on the market, opting for a low-production, pre-owned vintage AP perpetual calendar in steel — rather than a flashier modern reference — speaks to a considered, horologically literate sensibility. It is exactly the kind of choice one associates with industrialists who have grown up around serious watches.

On the grey market, early steel Royal Oak perpetual calendars like the 25654ST have appreciated steadily as vintage AP collecting has matured into a sophisticated discipline. Examples in good condition with matching bracelets regularly attract significant premiums at auction and through specialist dealers, reflecting both their scarcity and their historical importance within the Royal Oak lineage.