Watch Paparazzi

Singer Nick Jonas spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Nick Jonas surfaced on his own Instagram feed wearing what sharp-eyed followers quickly identified as an Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar — a watch that quietly ranks among the most mechanically accomplished pieces in AP's current catalogue, even if its aesthetic polarises the collector community.

The Code 11.59 collection arrived in 2019 as Audemars Piguet's statement that it could build a modern round watch with the same ambition it brought to the Royal Oak. The Perpetual Calendar reference in pink gold houses the self-winding Manufacture Calibre 5134, a movement distinguished by its openworked oscillating weight crafted in 22-carat pink gold — a functional sculpture visible through the exhibition caseback. The perpetual calendar mechanism automatically accounts for months of varying length and inserts an extra day in February during leap years. Barring a complete power-down, the owner faces precisely one manual date correction in their lifetime: the year 2100, when the Gregorian calendar's century-leap-year exception briefly outpaces the mechanism.

From a collector standpoint, the Code 11.59 has undergone a notable reappraisal since its initially lukewarm reception. Early criticism targeted the multi-layered dial and the case's complex, some said busy, geometry. Four years on, the market has warmed considerably, particularly to complicated variants. A perpetual calendar in precious metal from a manufacture that invented the perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1955 carries genuine horological weight — and that narrative is increasingly resonating at auction and in grey-market trading.

Nick Jonas has demonstrated a consistent appetite for serious watchmaking, appearing at high-profile events with pieces that suggest informed taste rather than brand-driven styling choices. Choosing the Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar over the more obvious Royal Oak reads as a deliberate move toward connoisseurship.

At retail, the Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Perpetual Calendar in pink gold carries an official list price in the region of the mid-to-high five figures. On the secondary market, the reference trades at approximately $75,000, reflecting both the complication's technical depth and the growing collector acceptance of the Code 11.59 line as a legitimate long-term holding.