MANILA, Philippines - Oliviero Bottinelli remembers the first AP timepiece that he wore: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak beauty in stainless steel. “I stole it from my father,” he recalls with a laugh. “It was not the value of the piece that I treasured. It was the meaning behind it. It was born the same year as me; it was first high-end stainless steel watch in the world; and it was very identifiable. People were astonished that I wore a Royal Oak at such a young age (laughs). Then after a few weeks, my father found out and got it back from me (laughs).” Now, as an AP executive, Bottinelli wears a stunning AP watch: a Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Skeleton. A heavy, silver beauty.
His other watch (yup, Bottinelli wears two) is a Millenary model, which came out in the Geneva fair, but is yet to be launched. “It will come out in Christmas. I wear it just to show people (laughs). Not too many people are this lucky.”
The watch shows two sets of time: one is Singapore time, and the other is Swiss time. “Even if I live in Singapore, I always have Swiss time with me because my family lives there. And the factory is there, so I’d know when they are already open so I could call them.”