A dial made of white gold and set with brilliant-cut diamonds is a different proposition from a lacquered one, and this is the reference where Code 11.59 abandons colour altogether. The other 15210 references are built on smoked lacquer gradients in blue, grey and burgundy, where the dial's whole appeal is that it changes as the wrist moves. This one replaces that with a solid white gold dial set across its face with diamonds, which does not change at all in the same way but never presents the same surface twice either, since stones scatter light rather than reflecting it in a single direction. The inner bezel is rhodium-toned rather than the black lacquer used elsewhere in the line, the case is white gold at 41 mm across and 10.7 mm thick, and it is no longer part of the current collection.
The case measures 41 mm across and 10.7 mm thick in white gold, slim by any standard and the reason this collection wears so differently from the Offshore references the house is better known for, sitting flat rather than standing proud. The bezel is white gold and matches the case, so the metal is continuous from the crystal to the lugs, and on a set watch that continuity matters more than usual because an unset bezel keeps the stones confined to the dial rather than spreading them across the whole front of the watch. White gold is the necessary metal, since it shares a colour temperature with the diamonds and the dial therefore reads as an extension of the case rather than as a bright panel mounted inside it. The dial is white gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Brilliant cuts scatter light in every direction, which produces a shimmering rather than a flashing surface, and on a dial with no complications to accommodate the setting can run without interruption. The applied hour markers and hands are white gold. That is the decision worth pausing on, because applied metal markers on a diamond-set dial are far harder to see than they would be on a lacquered one, and the alternative would have been to use the stones themselves as markers and drop the applied elements entirely. Keeping them means the watch still reads as a watch rather than as a bracelet with hands. The inner bezel is rhodium-toned, a cool grey that frames the setting without the hard stop that the black lacquer used elsewhere in the line would have created. The strap is pearly grey alligator in a large square scale with a white gold folding clasp set with brilliant-cut diamonds. The folding clasp is the exception to the collection's usual practice, since the lacquered 15210 references all use a pin buckle to keep height off the underside of a slim case. Here the clasp is set, and setting it means it has to be a folding clasp rather than a buckle, because stones cannot run across a strap that is pierced with holes. That is the second place the diamonds appear and the only one invisible in wear, which is consistent with a reference that keeps its setting off the bezel and out of view from any distance.
The function set is hours, minutes and centre seconds. There is no date, which distinguishes this reference from the lacquered 15210 models that all carry one, and the omission is deliberate rather than incidental. A date aperture cuts a rectangular hole through the dial, and on a lacquered surface that is a manageable interruption while on a set surface it means removing stones and leaving a window where the setting would otherwise continue. Dropping the date protects the dial, and it is a real trade because the date is the function most owners use daily. Centre seconds is retained for the same reason it is used across the line, since a running seconds subdial would have required a second hole. What remains is a watch with nothing to operate beyond setting the time, which is the correct outcome on a reference where the dial is the entire argument.
Within Audemars Piguet's structure Code 11.59 was launched as a third pillar beside the Royal Oak and the Offshore and is the only one not built on an octagonal bezel and an integrated bracelet. Inside the line the 15210 references are the selfwinding models, and they divide cleanly into the lacquered dials and this set one. The lacquered references are bought for a colour and a gradient. This one is bought for a material, and the difference in intent is larger than the shared reference number suggests. It also sits apart from the gem-set watches elsewhere in the house, since the Royal Oak and Offshore set pieces almost always set the bezel and often the bracelet, while this reference sets only the dial and leaves everything else plain.
This reference suits a collector who wants a set watch that does not look like one from a distance. Confining the stones to the dial and leaving the bezel, case and lugs unset means the watch reads as a plain white gold Code 11.59 until it is close enough to be examined, which is the opposite of how most set watches behave. The pearly grey strap continues that restraint, being neither white nor black and drawing no attention of its own. Now that the reference has left the catalogue the production is closed, and set references in this collection are made in far smaller numbers than the lacquered ones. The buyer is someone who wants the setting for themselves rather than for anyone else, and who prefers the version of luxury that has to be discovered.
