AUDEMARS PIGUET BAMBOO

Audemars Piguet has produced many iconic watches throughout its history, but few possess the quiet elegance of the Bamboo Collection. Produced during the 1980s, the Bamboo represented a departure from traditional dress watches, embracing sculptural forms, integrated bracelet design, and exceptional finishing. For decades, these watches remained largely under the radar, appreciated by only a small circle of collectors. Today, they are increasingly recognized as one of the manufacture's most distinctive vintage creations.

Manual wind cal. 2080 or cal. 2003 (27mm models)

Automatic cal. 2130 with date function (27mm models)

Quartz cal. 2508 (27mm, 22mm & 20mm models)

According to Audemars Piguet Heritage and Museum Director Sebastian Vivas the first known design for Audemars Piguet's Bamboo, dated January 24, 1982, bears the signature of Jacqueline Dimier. He then says the Bamboo was presented at Basel in 1984, and that only two years later the collection already consisted of 37 references.

Dimier became one of the manufacture's most influential designers, helping shape many of its creations throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. She is perhaps best known for designing the first ladies' Royal Oak and remains one of the pioneering female figures in Swiss watch design.

33 mm Case 18k solid Gold

Rare and elusive, it has long been suggested that as few as 20 examples were ever produced, I personally know of only 13. Audemars Piguet has never publicly confirmed an official production figure.

If accurate, this would place the Moonphase among the rarest complicated wristwatches produced by the manufacture during the era.
Its scarcity, combined with its beautifully balanced calendar display and bold case geometry has made it a unicorn and undoubtedly the most coveted of the Bamboo references.

MAISON RAKSHA has acquired five.

YG CREAM DIAL

WG TWO TONE WG DIAL

YG BLACK DIAL

YG WHITE DIAL

YG GOLD DIAL

As awareness of the Bamboo collection has grown, so too has collector interest.

One notable example came in 2026, when a YG white-dial Audemars Bamboo Day-Date Moonphase achieved approximately US$175,000, inclusive of buyer's premium and VAT, at Rapp Auction House in Zurich. While auction results should never be viewed as guarantees of future performance, sales such as this reflect the increasing appreciation for exceptional and highly original examples.

No one can predict the future of the vintage watch market, and watches should always be collected because they inspire genuine appreciation rather than financial expectation.

That said, the Bamboo possesses many of the qualities that have historically defined enduring collectibles: distinctive design, exceptional craftsmanship, limited production and growing international recognition.

As more collectors explore Audemars Piguet beyond the Royal Oak, I believe the Bamboo collection is only beginning to receive the recognition it has long deserved.

What first drew me to the Bamboo was not its rarity, but its proportions & 18k precious metal material.

I have a rather thin wrist, so Royal Oaks never suited me. Rolex 36mm Day Date is the largest watch in my collection. The bamboo blurs the line between horology and jewelery. Its bracelet, proportions and finishing really suited the shape of my wrist perfectly.

Over the years, that initial curiosity developed into a passion project for adding to the collection, searching for unusual dial configurations and preserving examples that represent this remarkable chapter in Audemars Piguet's history.